Select speeches of Hon. Geo. W. Julian, of Indiana, delivered in the House of representatives of the United States, since the beginning of the late rebellion

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SELECT. SPEECHES

Hon. GEO. W. JULIAN,

oip UNnDi-A-Hsr^^.,

Delirerrd hi fJte House of Iteprescniatirrn of flic VnitctJ Sfafrs,
since the Beginninr/ of the late Rebel/ iov.

CINCINNATI:

OAZKTTE STEAM ROOK AXI) JOB PKINTTNO ESTAP.T.TSnM K>fT.
1807.

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SELECT SPEECHES

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HON. GEO. W. JULIAN,

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jyellvered in the House of Representatives of the United States, since
the Beginning of the late Mebellion,

CINCINNATI:

GAZETTB STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT.
1867.

INTRODUCTORY.

The friends of Mr. Julian in the District he has so long and so faithfully represented,
earnestly desiring his continuance in Congress, have deemed it proper to republish the
following Congressional Speeches, delivered since the beginning of the late rebellion, and
circulate them in the Counties now united with Wayne, Union, and Fayette, as the new
Fourth District. The reason for this is their desire that his sagacity, statesmanship, and
faithfulness to his trust, shall be judged in the light of present events, and by his own
principles, publicly avowed long before they were accepted by the Government. His ablest
and most elaborate Speech, delivered January 14th, 1862, on the "Cause and Cure of our
National Troubles," is omitted from this series, having been considerably circulated already
in the counties referred to. His next Speech, delivered in May following, on " Confiscation
and Liberation," is similar in style and character, and is the first of the series. That
delivered in February, 1863, on the "Mistakes of the Past, the duty of the Present," is a
merciless review of "Democratic policy," as seen in the facts and figures which had been
supplied by the investigations of the Commttee on the Conduct of the War. The next is a
very thorough one, delivered in the winter of 1863-4, on his bill to provide "Homesteads for
Soldiers on the Lands of Ecbels," which was followed by another on the same subject,
involving a controversy with Mr. Mallory, of Kentucky^ who met with a most humilia-
ting defeat. The next of the series was delivered the following winter, on " Radicalism and
Conservatism," closing with a handsome and eloquent tribute to the Anti-Slavery pioneers.
The remaining Speeches, all delivered during the Thirty-ninth Congress, on " Suffrage in
the District of Columbia," on " Amending the Constitution," on "Radicalism, the Nation's
Hope," on "The Punishment of Rebel Leaders," and on " Regeneration before Reconstruc-
tion," add still further to his reputation as a thinker, and a perfectly independent man, who
knows how to say what he thinks. All his Speeches breath the same spirit of freedom, and
have the merit of careful thought, methodical arrangement, and a remarkable clear and
forcible diction.

The leading facts of Mr. Julian's career as a public man, are so well known, that no
particular recital of them is needed by his old friends and constituents. He was an active
leader in the Great Free Soil Revolt of 1848, which made California a free State; saved
Oregon from Slavery ; gave cheap postage to the people, and launched the policy of free
homes on the public domain, which finally prevailed so many years later. He was a
member of the memorable Thirty-first Congress, and bravely resisted the Great Compro-
mise, by which the Wilmot Proviso was sacrificed, and the principle of popular sovereignty
inaugurated, which ended in the raid into Kansas and kindred aggressions of Slavery. In
1852, his services and reputation received honorable national recognition in his nomination
by the Pittsburg Convention for the Vice Presidency of the United States, on the ticket
with the Hon. John P. Hale. In the years 1854 and 1855, he encountered the relentless
hostility of his opponents and his former political friends, by his earnest warfare against
Know-Nothingism, which he waged till this strange movement ceased to trouble our
politics. In 1856 he was one of the Vice Presidents of the first National Republican
Convention ever held, and Chairman of the Committee on Organization, through whose
plan of action, the party, as a national one, first took life. He has been the unflinching
advocate of freedom under all circumstances, and regardless of consequences personal to
himself; and this honor, we believe, is now accorded to him, by men of all parties. He was
a member of the Committee on Public Lands, in the Thirty-seventh Congress, and aided
in perfecting the Homestead law of 1862, embodying a policy which he publicly espoused
twenty years ago. During the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congress he was Chairman

of that Committee, and as such reported an important amendment to the Homestead law,
and his well known bill dedicating to homestead entry and settlement all the public lands
of the lately rebellious States, both of which measures passed. He also reported from the
same Committee, a bill which passed the House, providing "homesteads for soldiers on the
lands of rebels;" a very popular measure, which would have solved many vexed questions
which have troubled the country since. Early in the Thirty-seventh Congress he was
appointed by Speaker Grow, a member of the joint Committee of both Houses, on the
Conduct of the the War, to which very honorable and responsible position, he was
re-appointed by Speaker Colfax at the beginning of the Thiry-eighth Congress, serving
faithfully on said Committee, nearly four years. He has dealt very thoroughly with the
subject of mineral lands, insisting upon the policy of vesting the fee of these lands in the
miners; which policy has finally prevailed. His report at the long session of the last
Congress, against granting bounties to soldiers in lands, showing the reasons for opposing such
grants, first opened the way for the legislation which followed, and was the prime cause of
it, granting bounties in money. It should be added, that his well-timed bill on the subject
of Agricultural College scrip, which passed at the March session of the Fortieth Congress,
arrested and prevented the wholesale issue of such scrip by the President, to the Statss
lately in rebellion.

In addition to the important measures introduced and advocated by him, already named,
we might mention the bill repealing the fugitive slave law of 1850, and of 1793 ; that abolish-
ing the coast-wise slave trade; the bill equalizing the bounties of soldiers on the basis of
eight and one-third dollars per month, in lieu of bounties in land; the bill establishing the
right of sufl:rage in the District of Columbia, without regard to color or race; the bill
establishing the same principle in all the Territories of the United States, being the first
introduced in either House of Congress on the subject ; and the bill now pending, declaring
the railroad and swamp lands of the South, and the public lands of Texas, forfeited to the
United States, and subject to homestead entry and settlement by the landless poor. It is
scarcely necessary to add, that all the great measures growing out of, or connected with the
rebellion, have found in him an earnest supporter ; and that he has not only zealously
sustained the Government in all its grand measures of radicalism, such as the confiscation
of rebel property, the arming of negroes as soldiers, and the destruction of slavery, but he
has taken a decidedly advanced position on these questions. Applying his radicalism at
the end of the war, he has been among the most pronounced and emphatic of those who
have demanded the punishment of rebel leaders, and the complete enfranchisement of the
freedmeu ; whilst the late action of Congress on the subject of reconstruction, fully vindicates
the position assumed by him and other radicals early in the war, as to the power of Congress
over the revolted districts.

This brief record, principally copied from "W. H. Goddard's " Sketches of the Indiana
Delegation,'' published in pamphlet last year, is submitted with the Speeches which follow;
and the Republicans of the Fourth District will decide, in the light of their own interest,
and the still imperiled condition of our country, whether they will continue in Congress a
capable, faithful, and thoroughly tried public servant, or choose in his stead another, of less
experience, less identified with great national issues, and whose fidelity to the people under
every form of trial has been less unmistakably established.

S. S. BOYD, DANIEL HUFF,

IRA MAXWELL, WOODSON W. THRASHER,

JOSEPH M. BULLA, SYLVESTER JOHNSON,

BENJAMIN F. MILLER, JOHN CALLAWAY,

DAVID COMMONS, H. B. RUPE,

RICHARD J. HUBBARD, HOWELL GRAVE,

SAMUEL LITTLE, JOHN HENLEY.

oonsriFiso^Tioisr j^js^jd XjiBEi$.j^Tionsr.

Hon. aEOEG-E ^Y. JTJLIAISr,

In the house OF KEPKESENTATIVES, Friday, May 23, 1862.

The House having under consideration the
bill to confiscate the property and free from
servitude the slaves of rebels —

Mr. Julian said :

Mr. Speaker : Before closing the debate
on the measures of confiscation and liberation
now before us, I desire to submit some general
observations which I hope may not be regard-
ed as irrelevant to these topics, or wholly
unworthy of consideration. I do not propose
to discuss these particular measures. I deem
it wholly unnecessary. I believe every thing
has been said, on the one side and on the
other, which can be said, and far more than
was demanded by an honest search after the
truth. Certainly I shall not argue, at any
length, the power of Congress to confiscate
the property of rebels. I take it for granted.
I have not allowed myself, for a single mo-
ment, toregard the question as open to debate,
nor do I believe it would ever have been se-
riously controverted, had it not been for the
infectious influence of slavery in giving us
false views of the Constitution of the United
States. It was ordained " to form a more per-
fect union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, provide for the common defence,
promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos-
terity." I take it for granted, that our fath-
ers meant to confer, and did confer upon us,
by the terms of the Constitution, the power
to execute these grand purposes, and made
adequate provision for the exercise of that
power. I feel entirely safe in indulging this
reasonable intendment in their favor; and I
hand over to other gentlemen on this floor,
and in the other end of this Capitol, the un-
gracious task of dealing with the Constitution
as a cunningly devised scheme for permitting
insurrections, conniving at civil war, and
rendering treason to the Government safer
than loyalty.

Sir, I have little sympathy for any such
friends of the Union, and I honor the Consti-
tution too much, and regard the memory of
its founders too sacredly, to permit myself
thus to trifle with the work of their hands.
The Constitution is not a shield for the pro-
tection of rebels against the Government, but
a sword for smiting them to the earth, and
preserving the nation' 3 life. Every man who

has been blessed with a moderate share of
common sense, and who really loves his coun-
try, will accept this as an obvious truth.
Congress has power —

"To declare war; to grant letters of marque and
reprisal ; to make rules concerning captures on land
and water; to raise and support aimies; to pi'ovide
and maintain a navy ; to make rules for the jiovern-
ment and regulation of the land and naval forces ; to
provide for calling forlh the militia to execute the
laws of the Union ; suppress insurrections and repel
invasions ; and to make all laivs which shall he necessary
and proper for carrying into effect the foregoing powers.

Here we find ample and express authority
for any and every measure which Congress
may see fit to employ, consistently with the
law of nations and the usages of war, which
fully recognise the power of confiscation.
And yet for long, weary months we have
been arguing, doubting, hesitating, depreca-
ting.

As to what is called slave property, wft
have been most fastidiously careful not to
harm it. "We have seen a lion in our path at
every step. "We have seemed to play the part
of graceless stipendiaries of slaveholding reb-
els, seeking, by technical subterfuges and the
ingenious arts of pensioned attorneys in des-
perate cases, to shield their precious interests
from all possible mischief. So long have we
been tugging in the harness of our southern
taskmasters, that even this horrid conspiracy
of rebel slave-masters cannot wholly divorce
us from the idea that slij^ry and the Consti-
tution are one and insefffrable. Sir, while I
honor the present Congress for its great labors
and the many good deeds it has performed, I
must yet count it a shame and a reproach
that we did not promptly enact an efficient
confiscation bill in December last, which
would have gone hand in hand with our con-
quering legions in the work of trampling
down the power of this rebellion, and restor-
ing our bleeding and distracted country to
the blessings of peace. Many thousands of
dear lives and many millions of money would
thus have been spared ; for which a poor
atonement, indeed, can be found in the learned
constitutional arguments against confiscation,
which have consumed so much of the time of
the present session of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, this never ending gabble
about the sacredness of the Constitution is
becoming intolerable; and it comes from ex-

ccedincjly svispioious sources. We find that
just in proportion as a man loves slavery, and
desires to exalt it above all "principalities
and powers," he becomes most devoutly in
love with the Constitution as he understands
it. No class of men among us have so much
to say about the Constitution as those who are
known to sympathize with Jefferson Davis
and the pirate crew at his heels. It will not
be forgotten that the red-handed murderers
and thieves who set this rebellion on foot,
went out of the Union yelping for the Con-
stitution, which they had conspired to over-
throw, through the blackest perjury and
treason that ever confronted the Almighty.
I remember no men who were so zealously
on the side of the Constitution, or so studi-
ously careful to save it from detriment as
Bre'';kinridge and Burnett, while they re-
mained nominally on the side of the Union.
Every graceless miscreant who has wallowed
in the filthy mire of slavery till he has out-
lived his own conscience ; every man who
would be openly on the side of the rebels if he
had the courage to take his stand ; every op-
ponent of a vigorous prosecution of the war
by the use of all the powers of war, will be
found fulminating his dastardly diatribes on
the duty of standing by the Constitution. I
notice, also — and I do not mean to be offen-
sive— that the Democratic leaders who have
recently issued a semi-rebel address from this
city, are most painfully exercised lest the
Constitution should suffer in the hands of the
present Administration.

Mr. Speaker, I prefer to muster in different
company. I prefer to show my fealty to the
Constitution by treating it as the charter of
liberty, as the foe of rebellion, and as amply
armed with the power to save its own life by
crushing its foes. Sir, who are these men in
whose behalf the Constitution is so persist-
ently invoked ? They are rebels, who have
defied its power, and who, by taking their
stand outside of the Constitution, have driven
us to meet them on their own chosen ground.
By abdicating the Constitution, and conspir-
ing against the Government, they have as-
sumed the character of public enemies, and
have thus no rights but the rights of war,
while in dealing with them we are bound by
no laws but the laws of war. Those provis-
ions of the Constitution which define the
rights of persons in time of peace, and which
must be observed in dealing with criminals,
have no application whatever to a state of
war, in which criminals acquire the character
of enemies. The powers of war are not un-
constitutional, because they are recognized
and provided for by the Constitution ; but
their function and exercise are to be regula-
ted by the law of nations governing a state of
war, and not by the terms of the Constitution
applicable to a state of peace. Hence I must
regard much of this clamor about the viola-
tion of the Constitution on our part as the
sickly higgling of pro-slavery fanatics, or the
poorly disguised rebel sympathy of snivelling
hypocrites. We must fight traitors where

thoy have chosen to meet us. They have
treated the Constitution as no longer in force,
and we should give them all the consequen-
ces, in full, of their position. By sotting the
Constitution at naught, they have rested their
case on tlie naked power of lawless might ;
and, therefore, we will not give them due
process of law, by trying, convicting, and
hanging them according to the Constitution
they have abjured, but we will give them,
abundantly, due process of luar, for which
the Constitution makes wise and ample pro-
vision.

I have referred, Mr. Speaker, to the influ-
ence of slavery in giving us false views of the
Constitution. It has also given us false ideas
as to the character and purposes of the war.
We are fighting, it is said, for the Union as it
was. Sir, I should be glad to know what we
are to understand by this. If it means that
these severed and belligerent States must
againbe united as one and inseparable, with
secession forever laid low, the national supre-
macy vindicated, and the old flag waving over
every State and every rood of the Eepublic,
then I agree to the proposition. Every true
Union man will say amen to it. But if, by
the Union as it was, wc are to understand the
Unioii as we beheld it under the thieving
Democracy of the last Administration, with
such men as Davis, Eloyd, Mason, and their
God-forsaken confederates, restored to their
places in Congress, in the army, and in the
Cabinet; if it means that the reign of terror
which prevailed in the Southern States for
years prior to this rebellion shall be re-estab-
lished, by which unoflending citizens of the
free States can only enter "the sacred soil"
of slaverj'^ at the peril of life ; if, by the Union
as it was, be meant the Union with another
James Buchanan as its king, and Chief Jus-
tice Taney as its anointed high-priest, steadily
gravitating, by the weight of its own rotten-
ness, into the frightful vortex of civil war;
then I am not for the Union as it was, but as
I believe it will be, when this rebellion shall
have worked out its providential lesson. I
confess that I look rather to the future than
the past; but if I must cast my eye back-
ward, I shall select the early administrations
of the Government, when the chains of the
slave were crumbling from his limbs, and be-
fore the Constitution of 1789 had been muti-
lated by the servile Democracy of a later
generation.

Mr. Speaker, this clamor for the Union as
it was, comes from men who believe in the
divinity of slavery. It comes from those who
would restore slavery in this District if they
dared ; who would put back the chains upon
every slave made free \)j our Army ; wlio
would completely re-establish the slave power
over the national Government as in the evil
days of the past, which have culminated at
last in the present bloody strife, and who are
now exhorting us to "leave off agitating the
negro question, and attend to the work of
putting down the rebellion." Sir, the people
of the loyal States understand this question.

They know that slavery lies at thehottom of
all our troubles. They know that hut for this
curse, this horrid revolt against liberty and
law would not have occurred. They know
that all the unutterable agonies of our many
battle-fields, all the terrible sorrows which
rend so many thousands of loving hearts, all
the ravages and desolation of this stupendous
conflict are to be charged to slavery. They
know that its barbarism has moulded the
leaders of this rebellion into the most atro-
cious scoundrels of the nineteenth century, or
of any century or age of the world. They
know that it gives arsenic to our soldiers,
mocks at the agonies of wounded enemies,
fires on defenceless women and children,
plants torpedoes and infernal machines in its
path, boils the dead bodies of our soldiers in
cauldrons, so that it may make drinking cups
of their skulls, spurs of their jaw bones and
finger joints, as holiday presents for "the
first families of Virginia," and the "descend-
ants of the daughters of Pocahontas." They
know that it has originated whole broods of
crimes never enacted in all the ages of the
past, and that, were it possible, Satan himself
would now be ashamed of his achievements,
and seek a change of occupation. They know
that it hatches into life, under its infernal
incubation, the very scum of all the villanies
and abominations that ever defied God or
cursed his footstool. And they know that it
is just as impossible for them to pass through
the fiery trials of this war without feeling
that slavery is their grand antagonist, as it is
for a man to hold his breath and live.

Sir, the loyal people of these States will not
only think about slavery and talk about it,
during the progress of this war, but they will
seek earnestly to use the present opportunity
to get rid of it forever. Nothing can possi-
bly sanctify the trials and sufterings through
which we are called to pass but the perma-
nent establishment of liberty and peace. If
this is not a war of ideas, it is not a war to be
defended. As a mere struggle for political
power between opposing States, of a mere
question of physical strength or courage, it
becomes impious in the light of its horrid bap-
tism of fire and blood. It would rank with
the senseless and purposeless wars between
the despotisms of the Old World, bring with
it nothing of good for freedom or the race.
What I said on this floor in January last, I
repeat here now, that the mere suppression of
this rebellion will be an empty mockery of
our sufi^erings and sacrifices, if slavery shall
be spared to canker the heart of the nation
anew, and repeat its diabolical deeds. Sir,
the people of the United States and the ar-
mies of the United States, are not the unrea-
soning machines of arbitrary power, but the
intelligent champions of free institutions, vol-
untarily espousing the side of the Union upon
principle. They know, as does the civilized
world, that the rebels are fighting to diffuse
and eternise slavery, and that that purpose
must be met by a manly and conscientious
resistance. They feel that

" Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just."

and that nothing can " ennoble fight" but a
"noble cause.'' Mr. Speaker, I can conceive
of nothing more monstrously absurd, or more
flagrantly recreant, than the idea of conduct-
ing this war against a slaveholders' rebellion
as if slavery had no existence. The madness
of such a policy strikes me as next to infinite.
Here are more than a million of men called
into deadly strife by the struggle of this black
power to diflase itself over the continent, and
strike down the cause of free government
everywhere, deluging these otherwise happy
States with suftering and death without par-
allel in the history of the world; and yet so
far has this power perverted the judgment
and debauched the conscience of the country,
that we are seriously exhorted to make still
greater sacrifices, in order to placate its spirit
and spare its life. I thank God that such a
policy is simply impossible. The hearts of
the people of the free States, and of the sold-
iers we have sent into the field, beat for liberty;
and without their love of liberty, and the be-
lief that it is now in deadly pei-il, the rebel-
lion would have triumphed, just as the struggle
of our fathers, in 1776, would have ended in
failure, if it had been possible to make them
ignore the great question of human rights
which nerved their arms and fired their
hearts.

My colleague, [Mr.VooRHEES,]in his .speech
the other day, was quite eloquent in his con-
demnation of the financial management of
this war, and quite painstaking in his eflTort
to show the magnitude of the debt it is crea-
ting. He would do well to remember that
when Mr. Chase took charge of the Treasury,
the Government could only borrow money by
paying one per cent, per month, while Uni-
ted States six per cent, bonds are now at two
per cent, premium over American gold. As
to the immense burden which this war is heap-
ing upon us, it has been chiefly caused by the
mistaken policy of tenderness towards the
rebels, and immunity for their pet institution ;
and this policy has been steadily and strenu-
ously urged by my colleague and his Demo-
cratic associates. It has been far less the
fault of the Administration than some of our
commanding generals, and of conservative
gentlemen in both Houses of Congress, who
have sought by every means in their power
to accommodate the war policy of the Gov-
ernment to the equivocal loyalty of the border
States. Many precious lives, and many mil-
lions of money were sacrificed by the military
policy which neither allowed the army of the
Potomac to march against the enemy, nor go
into winter quarters during the dreary months
which pi'eceded the order of the Piesident,
directing a combined movement on the 22d
of February last. The policy of delay which
has also sought to spare slavery, was never
accepted by the President of his own choice,
but under the influence of those both in and
out of the army in whom he reposed confi-
dence at the time.

I rejoice now to find events all drifting in
a ditferent direction. I believe rebels and
outlaws are to be dealt with according to their

8

character. I trust slavery is not much longer
to be spared. Congress has already sanc-
tioned the policy of gradual abolition, as
recommended by the President, who himself
recognizes slavery as the grand obstacle to
peace. We have abolished slavery in this
District, and thus branded it with national
reprobation. We have prohibited it in all
national territory, now owned or hereafter to
be acquired. We have enacted a new article
of war, prohibiting our army from aiding in
the recapture of fugitives, and I trust we
shall promptly repeal the fugitive slave law
of 1850, or at least suspend its operation dur-
ing the rebellion. We have given freedom
to multitudes of slaves through our confisca-
tion act of last July,and by receiving them into
ouv camps and retaining them in our service.
We have enacted the homestead bill, which
Rt once recognizes the inalienable rights of
the people and the dignity of labor, and thus
brands the slave power as no act of the nation
ever did before. Since that power has ceased
to dominate in Congress, we are perfecting,
and shall soon pass a bill for the construction
of a Pacific railroad, and another for the
abolition of Polj'^gamy in Utah. Our watch-
words are now — Freedom, Progress.

Those patriotic gentlemen who have been
anxious to hang "abolitionists," as equally
guilty with the rebels are changing their
tune. We are reconsidering the folly of deal-
ing with rebels as "misguided brethren,"
who must not be exasperated, and while we
shall not imitate their barbarities, we are
learning to apply to their case the gospel of
'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."
We are waging w'ar in earnest ; we are begin-
ning to love freedom almost as dearly as the
rebels love slavery; we are animated by a
measure of that resentment which the rebel-
lion demanded in the very beginning, and has
constantly invoked during the progress of
the war ; and when these troubles are passed
tlie people will honor most those who have
sought to crush the rebellion by the quickest
and most desperate blows, and who, in the lan-
guage of Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts,
have been willing to recognize all men, even
black men, as legally capable of that loyalty
the blacks are waiting to manifest, and let
them fight with God and nature on their side."
The proclamation of General Fremont, giv-
ing freedom to the slaves of rebels in Missouri
has done more to make his name a household

cowards may recoil from it, and seek to post-
pone it ; but to resist it, unless Congress shall
assume it, will be to wrestle with destiny.

Mr. Speaker, I shall support the two meas-
ures of confiscation and liberation now before
us, for the same reason which led me to sup-
port the confiscation bill of last July. They
look in the right direction, and I am glad
to see any advance step taken by Congress.
But I shall retain, at any rate, my faith in
the President, and in that logic of events
which shows, amid all the seeming triumphs
of slavery, that the anti-slavery idea has been
steadily and surely marching towards its tri-
umph. The victories of slavery, in fact, have
been its defeats. It triumphed in the Missouri
compromise of 1820; but that triimi]>h, by
begetting new exactions, kindled and dif-
fused an imslumbering anti-slavery senti-
ment wiiich kept pace with every usurpation
of its foe. It triumphed in the annexation of
Texas ; but this, by paving the way for the
Mexican war, more fully displayed its spirit
of rapacity, and led to an organized political
action against it which finally secured the
control of the government. It triumphed in.
1850, in the passage of the fugitive slave act,
the Texas boundary bill, the overthrow of the
Wilmot proviso, and the inauguration of the
policy of popular sovereignty in our Territo-
ries, which afterwards brought forth such
bloody fruits in Kansas. But these measures,
instead of glutting the demands of slavery,
only whetted its appetite, and brought upon
it the roused and intensified hostility of the
people. It triumphed in the repeal of the
Missouri restriction ; but this was, perhaps,
the most signal defeat in the whole history
of its career of aggression and lawlessness,
completely unmasking its real character and
designs, and appealing to both conservatives
and radicals to combine against it. It tri-
umphed again in the Dred Scott decision,
and the election of James Buchanan as Presi-
dent; but this only enabled slave-breeding
Democracy to grow to its full stature, and
bud and blossom into that perfect luxuriance
of diabolism through which the Republican
party mounted to power. Slavery triumphed,
finally, when it clutched the national Treas-
ury, sent our Navy into distant seas, plun-
dered our arsenals, fired on our flag, and
sought to make sure its dominion by whole-
sale perjiiry, treason, rapine, and murder;
but all this was onlv a c;raiul challenge to the

word tlian could all the military glory of the ! nation to meet it in mortal combat, giving us

war; and I rejoice that, while the President
saw fit to revoke the recent sweeping order
of General Hunter, he took pains to couple
that revocation with words of earnest warn-
ing, which have neither meaning nor appli-
cation if they do not recognise the authority
of the Executive, in his military discretion,
to give freedom to the slaves. That this au-
thority will be executed, at no very distant
moment, I believe most firmly. The lan-
guage of the President obviously implies it,
and foreshadows it among the thick-coming
events of the future. Conservatives and

the right to choose any weapons recognised
by the hiws of civilized warfare. Baffled and
overborne in all its previous encounters, sla-
very has now forced upon the nation the
question of liberty or death; and I cannot
doubt that the triumphs of freedom thus far
will be crowned by final victorj' in this grand
struggle. The cost of our victory, in treas-
ure and blood, and the length of the struggle,
will depend much upon the madness or the
wisdom which may dictate our policy ; but I
am sure that our country is not so far given
over to the care of devils as to allow slavery

to come out of this contest with its life. To
believe this, would be to take sides with " the
fool" who "hath said iu his heart there is no
God."

The triumph of anti-slavery is sure. In
the day of its weakness, it faced proscription,
persecution, violence, and death, but it never
deserted its flag. It was opposed by public
opinion, by the press, the religious organiza-
tions of the country, and by great political
parties, which it finally rent in twain and
trampled under its feet. It is now the mas-
ter of its own position, while its early heroes
are taking their rank among the "noble of all
ages." It has forced its way into the presi-
dential chair, and rules in the Cabinet. It
dictates the legislation of Congress, and speaks
in the Courts of the Old "World. It goes
forth with our armies, and is every hour more
and more imbuing the soldiers of the Repub-
lic with its spirit. Its course is onward, and
while

" The politic statesman looks back with a sigh,
There is doubt in his heart, there is fear in his eye;"

and even those slimy doughfaces and creep-
ing things that still continue to hiss at "aboli-
tionism," betray a tormenting apprehension
that their day and generation are rapidly
passing away. In the light of the past the
future is made so plain that "he that runs
may read." In the year 1850, when the slave
power triumphed through the "final settle-
ment" which was then attempted, I had the
honor to hold a seat in this body ; and I said,
in a speech then delivered, that —

" The suppression of agitation in the non-slave hold-
ing States will not and can not follow the ' pease meas-
ures' recently adopted. The alleged death of the
Wilmot proviso will only prove the death of those who
have sought to kill it, while its advocates will be
multiplied in every portion of the North. The cove-
nant lor the admission of additional slave States will be
repudiated, while a renewed and constantly increasing
agitation will spring up in behalf of the doctrine of ' no
more slave states.' Tho outrage of surrendering free
soil to Texan slavery can not fail to be followed by the
same results, and fust as naturally as fuel feeds the
flame -which consumes it. The passage of the fugitive
slave bill will open a. fresh wound in the North, and it
will continue to bleed just as long as the law stands
unrepealed. The existence of slavery iu the capitol of
the Republic, upheld by the laws of Congress, must of
itself keep alive an agitation whic'nwill be swelled with
the continuance of the evil. Sir, these questions are no
longer within the control of politicians. Party discipline,
presidential nominations, and the spoils of office, can
uot stifle the free utterance of the people respecting
the great struggle now going on in thiscountry between
the tree spirit of the North and a domineering oligarchy
in the South. Hero, sir, lies the great question, and it
must bo met. Neither acts of Congress nor the devices
of partisans can postpone or evade it. It will have
itself answered. 1 am aware that it involves the bread
and butter of whole hosts of politicians ; and I do not
marvel at their attempts to escape it, to smother it, to
hide it from the eyes of the people, and to dam up the
moral tide which is forcing it upon them. Neither do
I marvel at their firing of guna and bacch.inalian liba-
tions over ' the dead body of the Wilmot.' Such labors
and rejoicings are by no means unnatural, but hey will
befollowed by disappointment. It is vain to expect to
qjiiet agitation by continued concessions to an institu-

tion which is becoming every hour more and more a

stigrna to the nation, and which, instead of seekine
new conquests and new life, should be preparing itsell
with grave clothes for a decent exit from the world ;
concessions revolting to the humanity, the conscien-
tious convictions, the religion, and the patriotism of the
free States."

Sir, I speak to-day in the spirit of these
words uttered nearly twelve years ago, and
verified by time. A small band of men in
Congress braved public opinion, the ruling
influences of the time, and every form of pro-
scription, and intimidation, in standing by
the cause which was overwhelmingly voted
down. But although outvoted, it was not
conquered. " It is in vain," says Carlylc, " to
vote a false image true. Vote it, and re-vote
it, by overwhelming majorities, by jubilant
unanimities, the thing is not so ; it is otherwise
than so, and all Adam's posterity, voting upon
it till doomsday, cannot change it."

The history of reform bears unfailing wit-
ness to this truth. The cause which bore the
cross in 1850, wears the crown to-day. "No
power can die that ever wrought for truth."
while the political graves of recreant states-
men are eloquent with warnings against their
mistakes. Where are those northern states-
men v/ho betrayed liberty in 1820? They
are already forgotten, or remembered only in
their dishonor. Who now believes that any
fresh laurels were won in 1850, by the great
men who sought to gag the people of the free
States, and lay the slab of silence on those
truths which to-day write themselves down,
along with the guilt of slaverj^, in the flames
of civil war ? Has any man in the whole his-
tory of American politics, however deeply
rooted his reputation or god-like his gifts,
been able to hold dalliance with slavery and
live? I believe the spirit of liberty is the
spirit of God, and if the giants of a past gen-
eration were not strong enough to wrestle
with it, can the pigmies of the present? It
has been beautifully said of Wilberforce, that
" he ascended to tho throne of God, with a
million of broken shackles in his hands, as the
evidence of a life well spent." History will
take care of his memory ; and when our own
bleeding country shall again put on the robes
of peace, and freedom shall have leave to
gather up her jewels, she will not search for
them among the political fossils who are now
seeking to si3are the rebels by pettifogging
their cause in the name of the Constitution,
while the slave power is feeling for the na-
tion's throat. No ; God is not to be mocked.
Justice is sure. The defenders of slavery
and its despicable apologists will be nailed to
the world's pillory, and the holiest shrines in
the temple of American liberty will be re-
served for those who shall most faithfully do
battle against this rebellion, as a gigantic
conspiracy against the rights of human nature
and the brotherhood of our race.

The Mebellion—tlie 3Iistal^es of the Past^-the Duty of the Present,

sipeech: OIF

Hon. GEOEGE W. JULIAN,

In the house OF REPRESENTATIVES, February 18th, 18G3.

The House having under consideration the
bill to indemnify the President and other
persons for suspending the privilege of the
■writ of habeas corpus, and acts committed in
pursuance thereof —

Mr. Julian said :

Mr. Speaker: The line of argument I
■propose to pursue during the hour which
belongs to me is general in its character, and
■will not specially refer to the measure now
pending before the House. It will not, how-
ever, be found substantially irrelevant to the
Bubject ; and as I have already waited several
•weeks for the floor, and the widest latitude
has thus far been allowed in this debate, I
trust I shall be permitted to proceed without
encountering any very strict construction of
the rules of order provided for the government
of this body.

In seeking to interpret the terrible conflict
through which our countrj' is passing, and to
devise, if possible, a just and wise policy for
the Government in its future action, the mind
naturally reverts to the past There is a
gense in which it is well to let bj'-gones be
by-goncs, but we can never afford to dispense
with the lessons of experience. 'Ry an eternal
law, as unvarying in politics as in morals, to-
day is made the child of yesterday and the
parent of to-mori-ow — the past and the present
linked together in the relation of cause and
eiFect, and irrevocably woven into the future.
It is true philosophy, therefore, to proflt by
our mistakes, to the extent of shunning their
repetition, while causing the past to reappear
■where its deeds have been worthy.

The triUmph of the Republican party in
1860 was the triumph of freedom over slavery.
I do not say that ail who supported Abraham
Lincoln were abolitionists, or even anti-slavery
men, or that all who opposed him were the
advocates of slavery. This would be very far
from the exact truth. "What I afllrm is, that
hostility to slavery was the animating senti-
ment of the men whose deeply-rooted con-
victions and unquenchable zeal made the
formation of the Republican party a necessity,
and nerved it with all its real strength ; while,
on the other hand, the espousal of slavery
was the grand and darling purpose of those
whose shaping hand and inspiring ambition
gave life and law to the Democratic organi-
zation.

I go further still. The contest of 1860 was
not simply a struggle between slavery arvd
freedom, but a struggle of life and death.
Slavery, as a system of unskilled labor, de-
'>na7ids the right of unrestricted extension
over fresh soil as a condition of its life. This
is a law of its nature, attested by the Seminole
and Florida war, the seizure of Texas, the
war with Mexico, the repeal of the Missouri
restriction, the raid into Kansas, and by its
entire history in this country. Contine it by
impassable boundaries, and it will turn upon
and devour its own life, and destroy both
master and slave. Slaveholders understand
this perfectly, and I do not marvel that their
hostility was not assuaged in the smallest
degree by the Republican dogma of nc>n-
interference with it in the States. They knew
that the exclusion of it from all Federal ter-
ritory would not only put the nation's brand
upon it in the States which it scourges, and
condemn it as a public enemy, but virtually
sentence it to death. They believed, Avith our
Republican fathers, that restriction means
destruction. They knew that as the first dose
of medicine given to a sick man forms a part
of the whole process of cure, so the policy of
limitation, as an incipient remedy for our
great national malady, would be followed by
other measures, moral, economical, and politi-
cal, which would ultimately but surely expel
it from the country. Hence they fought Re-
piublicanism with all the zeal and desperation
which could be inspired by a great social and
moneyed power, threatened with suflbcation
and death. They were simply obeying the
law of self-preservation ; and I think it due
to frankness to confess that the charge of
"abolitionism,'' which they incessantly hurled
at the Republican party, was by no means
totally wanting in essential truth. When
they were vanquished in the election of Mr.
Lincoln, their appeal from the ballot to the
bullet, was the logical consequence of their
insane devotion to slavery, and their convic-
tion that nothing could save it but the ruin of
the Republic.

Such was the issue decided by the people in
the last Presidential canvass. It was the long-
postponed battle between slavery and anti-
slavery, fairly encountering each other at the
ballot-box. It was a struggle between two
intensely hostile ideas, wrestling for the final
naastery of tlie Republic. Freedom, through

11

the Republican party as its instrument,
triumphed over slavery, with both wings of
the Democratic party as its servants and
tools ; for the distinction between Breckin-
ridge Democracy and Douglas Democracy
was purely metaphysical, and eluded, entirely,
the plain common sense of honest men.

Now, sir, I hold that the people of the
United States, who earned and fairly achieved
this great victory, had a vested right to its
fruits. They had a right to expect the domi-
nation of slavery over the national Govern-
ment to cease. They had a right to demand
that all its departments should be committed
to the hands of those who believe in the grand
idea on which the Administration ascended
to power. And the intervention of the rebel-
lion in no degree whatever released the Go-
vernment from its duty in this respect. The
rebellion did not refute, but confirmed, the
truth of Republicanism. It was simply a
final chapter in the history of the slave
power, an advanced stage of slaveholding
rapacity, naturally born of Democratic mis-
rule ; and instead of tempting us to cower
before it and surrender our principles, fur-
nished an overwhelming argument in favor
of standing by them to the death.

I do not say that no man who had been
identified with the Democratic party should
have been appointed to office, but that no
man who regarded with indifference the great
principle which had triumphed in the can-
vass ; no man, certainly, who was known to
be hostile to that principle, should have been
allowed to hold any Federal office, high or
low, civil or military, at home or abroad.
This was the duty of the Administration; for
the simple reason that it could not decline it
with fidelity to the pieople who had installed
it in power. The Republican pirinciple was
as true after the election as during the can-
vass ; as true in the midst of war as in seasons
of peace ; and just so far as we have lost sight
of this truth, just so far have we strayed from
the path of safety. Indeed, instead of putting
our principles in abeyance when the storm of
war came, we should have clung to them with
a redoubled energy and a dedicated zeal. In-
stead of making terms with our vanquished
opponents by conferring upon them office and
power, we should have taught them that these
were necessarily forfeited in our triumph.
And we should have remenibered that even
our enemies would brand us as hypocrites
and cowards, if the Administration should be
less distinctively Republican in principle and
policy than had been the party which created
It.

Yery nearly allied to the policy of conciliat-
ing our opponents, and thus building up their
power, was the project of a Union party, en-
couraged by Republican politicians simultane-
ously with the beginning of this Administra-
tion. Such a movement, started soon after a
heated political canvass involving the issue of
slavery and anti-slavery, was utterly pre-
posterous. The war grew out of the very
question which had organized our parties

and marshalled them against each other in
time of peace; and hence, instead of melting
and fusing them into one, their lines of divi-
sion would be brought out all the more
palpably, and their antagonisms all the more
intensified. It was incredible that pro-slavery
Democracy, after having been so thoroughly
drugged and surfeited with the heresies of
southern rebels, should, in the twinkling of
an eye, enter into cordial union with the men
it had so long traduced. What is now paljv
able to all men, I thought obvious in the
beginning: that a union of Republicans and
Democrats, on the single question of putting
down the rebellion, ignoring the real issue
out of which it sprang, was simply a shallow
expedient for dividing the spoils of office, at
the cost of a practical surrender of the prin-
ciples for which Republicans had so zealously
contended. I do not say that the disruption
of the Democratic party was by any means
impossible. There was a vigorous loyal
element pervading its rank and file, which
its unprincipled Icadershipi would have been
powerless to control, if Republicans had stood
firm. If we had been perfectly true to our
own principles, bating no jot of zeal in their
maintenance, and frowning upon any move-
ment which sought to soften down or shade ofiT
the right-angled character of our anti-slavery
policy ; if we had bravely accepted the conse-
quences of that policy, branding the rebellion
as the child of slavery, and the Democratic
party as the great nursing mother that had
fed and pampered it into this bloody revolt
against the Constitution; if, when the truth
of our doctrines and the guilt of our opponents
were written down in the fires of civil war,
we had called upon all men to join hands with
us in saving the country, the Democratic
party would have heard its death knell in the
guns of Fort Sumter, and instead of borrow-
ing new life from the cowardice and decline
of Republicanism, would have crawled to its
guilty and dishonored grave. Only by per-
sistent fidelity to our own principles could we
hope either to break down the power of our
foes or maintain a real Union movement.
This we already had in the Republican party.
If there is anywhere a Republican who is not
a Union man I would be glad to know where
he may be found. This accursed war is upon
us to-day because the policy of the Govern-
ment, under the rule of slave-breeding Demo-
cracy, has so long been drifting from the
principles of our Republican fathers, as re-
affirmed in the Philadelphia and Chicago
platforms. The rebellion is a fulfilled prophecy
of Thomas Jefferson, and of all the leading
anti-slavery men of a later generation ; and
nothing, certainly, should have been further
from our purpose than to rush with indecent
haste into the embrace of unrepentant Demo-
crats, when the very life of the nation hud
been brought into deadly peril by their syste-
matic recreancy to the principles of real De-
mocracy.

Sir, Democratic policy not only gave birth
to the rebellion, but Democrats, and only

12

Democrats, are in arms against their country.
Democruts fired on its flag at Fort Sumter.
Jefferson Davis is a Democrat, and so is every
God-forsaken rebel at his heels. A Demo-
cratic Administration was in power when the
rebellion first lifted its head. A Democratic
President, who could have nipped it in the
bud, allowed our Navy to he sent to distant
seas, our fortresses to be occupied, our arsenals
and navy-yards to be seized, and our arms
and munitions to be stolen. Democrats
clutched the Treasury of the Government
and robbed it of its Indian bonds. The dis-
tinguished thieves and cut-throats who are
known as the leaders of the rebellion, such as
Floyd, Thompson, Yancey,' and Cobb, are all
Democrats. Not only is it true that rebels
are Democrats, but so are rebel sympathizers,
whether in the North or the South. On the
other hand, the Kepublican party, so far as
I can learn, has not furnished a single recruit
to the ranks of the rebellion. Loyalty and
republicanism go hand in hand throughout
the Union, as perfectly as treason and
slavery.

In the light of these pregnant facts, Mr.
Chairman, we find no occasion for a new
party. What we should work and pray for
is the success of our principles, and this can
only be secured by steadfastness of purpose
and associated political action. We need
something of permanence in our movements,
shunning that fickleness and instability that
would form a new party, with a new name,
for every campaign, and thus fritter away
our strength in the fickleness of our schemes,
instead of husbanding it for effective service.
Kepublicanism is not like a garment, to be put
on or laid aside for our own convenience, but
an enduring principle, which can never be
abandoned without faithlessness to the country.
It is not a succession of "dissolving views,"
brought on to the political stage to amuse
conservative gentlemen, or to dazzle and be-
wilder the people, but the fixed star which
should guide us through the shifting phases
of American polities and the bloody labyrinths
of war. Sir, not even to save the Union, or
to restore the blessings of peace, should we
forsake its light. It is because we loved our
principles more than peace that we are now
in the midst of war. We demanded a Union
under conditions that would make it the
servant of liberty, and not the handmaid of
slavery, and the rebellion is the result. Let
us accept it; and when we are charged with
producing.it, let us reply that the charge, if
true at all, is true in a sense which makes in-
famous the men who prefer it. In the sense
in which the opponents of paganism caused
martyrdoms in the early days of tlie Church ;
in the sense in which the enemies of the papal
power in the time of Luther caused persecu-
tions and death ; in the sense in which Thomas
Jefferson and the fiithers caused the war of
our Kcvolution, we, who are called llepubli-
cans, caused the rebellion, of which pro-slavery
Democracy is pre-eminently guilty. If wo
had allowed slavery to take root in the soil of

Kansas, without resistance or protest ; if we
had permitted it, through the help of the
Supreme Court, to fasten its fangs upon
all our Territories, so that neither Congress,
nor the people, nor any human power could
remove it; if we had allowed it to go freely
into the non-slavcholding States, and set up
its habitation in defiance of State enactments;
if we had consented to the revival of the
African slave trade, and that our lips should
be sealed against the right to talk about it,
except to talk in its favor; if, in a word, the
people of the free States had been willing to
trample unde# their feet the institutions of
their fathers, and to dedicate this continent
to slaveholding and slave-breeding forever,
then we might have peace to-day, and an
unbroken Union. But our Democratic peace
would have been the peace of the pit "stifling,
suflocating, sultry" — a peace infinitely more
dreadful than the war we have chosen to
accept in the maintenance of our principles;
and our Union would have been a confeder-
acy of corsairs, devouring humanity, defying
God, exalting the devil, and gladdening the
heart of every absolutist and tyrant through-
out the earth. Sir, I rejoice greatly that
Eepublicans had the courage to tlirow them-
selves between their country and the eternal
damnation to which Democratic policy was
about to consign it; and that now, standing
face to face with the dread realities of war,
they are still resolved to stand together by the
flagstaft' of freedom. No step backwards is
possible, nor was there any hope for the Re-
public so long as the Government and its ad-
visers failed to realize this fact.

Mr. Chairman, I have indicated, in general
terms, the mistakes of Republican policy since
the beginning of the war. Many of our
trusted leaders have lost their way, while the
Administration itself has not been thoroughly
Republican in its policy. Forgetting the
mere negations of our creed, it should have
planted itself bravely on its affirmations,
pausing not a moment to apologize, or depre-
cate, or explain. The crisis called for absolute
courage, and the time had gone by forever for
any policy savoring, in the smallest degree, of
timidity or hesitation. The disasters of this
war, and the perils which now threaten the
country, find their best explanation in the
failure of the Government to stand by its
friends, and its readiness to strengthen the
hands of its foes. To a fearful extent Demo-
cratic ideas and Democratic policy have ruled
this Republican Administration from the be-
ginning. Democratic piolicy, very soon after
the war began, speaking through our Repub-
lican Secretary of State, declared that " the
Federal Government could not reduce the
seceding States to obedience by conquest,"
and that "only an imperial or dcsjiotic Go-
vernment could subjugate thorouglily disaf-
fected and insurrectionary members of the
State;" persuaded the nations of the earth
that our struggle was not an "irrepressible
conflict" between two forms of society, each
of which was aiming at absolute dominion

13

over the country, but a mere domestic tumult
which would subside in "sixty days," and
that the institution of slavery, which the
whole world now confesses to have been the
cause of the war, would not be affected by it,
but "remain subject to exactly the same laws
and forms of administration, whether the re-
volution shall succeed or whether it shall
fail." Democratic policy, pouring its cow-
ardly counsels into the ear of the commander-
in-chief of our armies, tempted him to write a
letter to Secretary Sewai-d, on the day before
Mr. Lincoln's inauguration, in which he
scouted the idea of subduing the rebel States
by military power, fovored the organization
of a Union party and the abandonment of
Kepublicanism, and recommended a pacifica-
tion on the godless basis of the Crittenden re-
solves of January, 1861 ; or that we should say
to our "wayward sisters, go in peace." De-
mocratic policy made Gen. McClellan com-
mander-in-chief, by falsely claiming for him
the victories of our arms in "Western Virginia,
achieved by Rosecrans, Morris, and Benham,
and by the indorsement of General Scott, who,
as the country has since learned, did not
believe in the war which the Government
had inaugurated. Democratic policy, through
General Patterson as its representative, de-
tained a large army in the valley of Winches-
ter, which should have marched against
General Johnston and his inferior force, in-
stead of allowing him to join Beauregard at
Bull Run, thus securing the defeat and rout
of our army, instead of decisive victory, which,
else, would have crowned our arms. Demo-
cratic policy, through the authority of General
McClellan, kept the Potomac blockaded during
the fall and winter of 1861 and 1862; and
when the Navy Department insisted, as it
did repeatedly, on putting an end to the
blockade, which it could have done at any
moment, our Democratic general objected
that "it would bring on a general engage-
ment;" and thus was the honor of the nation
compromised, and millions sacrificed through
its interrupted commerce, without cause or
excuse. Democratic policy, personified by
General McClellan and General Stone, sent
Colonel Baker and his gallant men across the
Potom.ac against a superior force, with one
scow and two small boats as the only means
of transportation; and after the crossing had
commenced, twenty-four thousand men under
General Smith and General McCall, who
were within striking distance, and expected
by Colonel Baker to join him, were ordered
to retreat by General McClellan ; while fifteen
hundred of our men at Edward's Ferry, onljr
three and a half miles from the battle field,
who could have reinforced Colonel Baker
and turned the fortunes of the day, were
compelled to stand idle while the gallant
hero and his men were butchered without
mercy. During the autumn and winter
months which followed. Democratic policy
made the grand army of the Potomac squat
before the wooden guns of Centreville and
Manassas ; and although our forces were

many times larger than those of the rebels,
and our men in fine health and discipline,
and eager to fight, while during these succes-
sive months we were favored with solid roads
and clear frosty days and nights, yet neither
the persuasions of the President nor the
clamors of the people could induce General
McClellan to move; nor did any member of
the Cabinet, nor the President himself, nor
any general in his army, know his plans, or
why our forces did not advance. Democratic
policy, refusing to allow our armies to go into
winter quarters or to march upon the enemy,
kept them strictly on the defensive through-
out the Union, till the President in the latter
part of January of last year gave the order
forward, resulting in the victories of Fort
Henry, Fort Donelson, and Newbern, which
so electrified the country. The army of the
Potomac was required to march on the 22d of
February, but Democratic policy held it in-
active till the 10th of March, when General
McClellan, in obedience to a peremptory
order of the President, took up the line of
march toward Centreville, after having first
learned that the rebels had retired toward the
Rappahannock. This pink and beau-ideal of
Democratic policy, instead of pushing at once
towards Richmond, which he could have
done by railroad by way of Aquia Creek and
Fredericksburg, or by the Manassas and
Gordonsville road, marched his army back to
Alexandria, where hundreds perished or re-
ceived the cause of their death, in the open
fields and woods in sight of their tents, during
the cold, drenching rains, to which they were
exposed for many days prior to their embarka-
tion for Fortress Monroe. Democratic policy,
still ruling the country through General Mc-
Clellan, planned the ill-fated campaign on
the Peninsula ; and although he had insisted,
while himself near the capital, that the whole
armj^ of the Potomac was necessary for its
defence, yet on leaving, under positive orders
that this city should be amply defended, he
seems to have considered fifteen thousand raw
and undisciplined troops, the refuse of the
army, sufficient for its protection; all of the
army in and around Washington, except this
meagie force, having been ordered by him to
proceed at once to the Peninsula. Democratic
policy compelled the army of the Potomac to
sit down before Yorktown till a small army
had grown to be a large one, and then per-
mitted it to evacuate at its leisure. General
Hooker, with his advance force, followed ;
but Democratic policy, refusing him to be
reinforced, held thirty thousand men within
sound of the battle, by which our forces were
repulsed and the escape of the enemy secured.
When our army at length reached the Chicka-
hominy. Democratic policy founded the king-
dom of pickaxes and spades, and sent thou-
sands of our soldiers to their graves, because
the employment of able-bodied negroes in
ditching would bo offensive to Democratic
gentility, and might endanger "the Union
as it was." When Gpn. McClellan, by order
of Gen, Hallcck, left the James river, and

14

reached Alexandria in time to save General
Pope at the second battle of Bull Eun ; De-
mocratic policy, forgetting the country, al-
lowed him to be sacrificed. Democratic
policy, sifting its deadly poison into the
mind of the President, again placed General
McClellan in command of the army of the
Potomac, and reinstated, at his request, the
generals whose failures had caused Pope's
defeat; and the "strategy" which followed
left the way open for the withdrawal of Gen.
Lee, and delayed the march of our forces till
Harper's Ferry had fallen into the hands of
the enemy. Democratic policy, at the battle
of Antietam, kept at least forty thousand of
our men in reserve, and thus converted a
magniflcent victory, most temptingly brought
within our grasp, into at best a drawn battle.
Democratic policy, which cost us more than
fifty thousand soldiers on the Peninsula,
systematically misled the public by compel-
ling the newspaper correspondents within
our lines to suppress facts and utter falsehoods,
in order to glorify General McClellan, shield
him from popular disapprobation, and per-
petuate his command. Democratic policy at
this moment clamoi'S for his restoration, and
every man who blames the Kepublicans for
bringing on this war, and who declares, as
Gen. McClellan did at its beginning, that the
South is right; every man who believes in
wearing out the patience of the country
by military failures, so that the rebels may
be restored to power through some infernal
compromise; every man who despises the
policy which woufd win victories, or follow
them up when won ; every man who was as
much of a traitor as he had the courage to be
in the beginning of this struggle, andhas all
the time wished the rebels "a hearty God-
speed; every man who has done his "be.it to
discourage enlistments, embarrass the action
of the Government, and render the Avar odious
to the people ; every man who raises the cry
of peace, and talks about new guarantees to
pacifj' the felons who have sought the nation's
life; every man who loves negro slavery better
than he loves his country, and would sooner
see the Eepublic in ruins than the slaves set
free, is the zealous advocate and unflinching
champion of General McClellan.

Mr. Chairman, Democratic policy proves
itself the ally of treason by hugging the
cause w..ich produces it. It clings to slavery
as a dyi-ig man clings to life. It condemns
its prohibition in our Territories, and its
abolition in this District. In the midst of a
terrific struggle of the nation for self-preserva-
tion, requiring the use of all the weapons
known to the laws of war, it demands the
repeal of our confiscation laws, and denounces
the President's proclamation giving freedom
to the slaves of rebels. With equal zeal it
opposes the gradual "abolishment of slavery,"
with the consent of loyal masters, and com-
pensation allowed them. Democratic policy
clamors for peace with rebels in arms, on the
basis of the Crittenden compromise, rejected
by them two years ago, and which, if accept-

ed, would completely surrender the libertie'
of the people to the slaveholding vandals of
the South, Democratic policy has played
into the hands of rebels by refusing the help
of negroes into our armies, as laborers, team-
sters, cooks, nurses, scouts, and soldiers, thus
necessarily weakening our military power,
and sacrificing the lives of our men. Demo-
cratic policy has sought the oflfice of slave-
hound for rebels ever since the beginning of
the war, and is still, occasionally, exercising
its functions in defiance of positive prohibi-
tions. Democratic piolicy, taking the form of
"Order ISIo. ,3." under which, for more than a
year, loyal colored men were driven from our
camps, and their proffered aid and informa-
tion rejected, earned the gratitude of every
rebel throughout the Union, and the curses
of every loyal man. Democratic policy de-
spises an abolitionist far more heartily than
a traitor ; the term abolitionist, according to
a leading Democratic organ, signifying "any
man who does not love slavery for its own
sake, as a divine institution ; who does not
worship it as the corner-stone of civil liberty;
who does not adore it as the only possible
social condition on which a permanent re-
publican government can be erected; and who
does not, in his inmost soul, desire to see it ex-
tended and perpetuated over the whole earth,
as a means of human reformation, second in
dignity, importance, and sacredness, to the
religion of Christ." Democratic policy, by
thus perpetually deferring to slavery as a
sacred thing, and to slaveholders as a superior
order of men, has smothered that feeling of
resentment in our armies which else would
have been evoked, and the lack of which,
according to our commanders, is one of the
serious obstacles to our success. Democratic
policy in the year 1861 gave us as command-
ers of our three great military departments,
McClellan, Halleck, and Buell, whose military
administrations have so terribly cursed the
country; while it imposed upon our volunteer
forces in the field, such officers as Fitz John
Porter, General Nelson, General Stone, and
very many more whose sympathies with the
rebels were well known throughout the
country.

Mr. Wadsworth. I desire to make an in-
quiry of the gentleman. I thought I under-
stood him to say that General Nelson's
sympathy with the rebels was well known-.
I wish to know if he alludes to General "VVm.
Nelson, deceased.

Mr. Julian. I allude to that gentleman.

Mr. "Wadsworth. T was born and reared
with him, served witli him in the intimate
relations against the rebels, and knew him
from his j-outh up to (he time of his death ;
and I say that there was not a more deter-
mined opponent of the rebels and of secession
in America. The language of the gentleman
is untrue. The stain attempted to be cast
upon the memory of (ieneral Nelson is unde-
served and unfounded. Such language as
that is outrageous. I have heard the speech,
entirely out of order upon this bill, with

15

patience, but I cannot allow the memory of
Wm. Nelson to be slandered in this way.

Mr. Julian. In reply to the remarks of
the gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. Wads-
WOETH,) I have only to say that what I said
is true. I did not say that General Nelson
was a rebel. I said he was well understood
to be in sympathy with the rebels, and this
understanding, so far as I have any means of
knowledge, is universal among the soldiers
of Indiana and Ohio who have served under
him in the field in Kentucky and elsewhere.
While I do not say that he was a rebel, I say
that, like some other distinguished gentlemen
from Kentucky, he was a rebel sympathizer,
loving slavery more than he loved his
country. That I desire to say in the most
emphatic words I know how to employ.

The gentleman from Kentucky did not
charge me with an intentional misrepresenta-
tion, as I understood him. If he makes that
charge I shall deal with it. I understand we
simply differ as a matter of fact.

Mr. Wadsworth. I did not intend to
charge the gentleman with any intentional
misrepresentation touching the sentiments of
General Nelson, unless he makes himself
responsible for it. I did not know but that
he was making a statement, in which he con-
fided, derived from others. My purpose was
to denounce the statement which the gentle-
man brings in here. I do not care who makes
the statement, he is a slanderer of the gallant
dead.

Mr. Julian. I decline to yield to the gen-
tleman farther. The gentleman denounces
my assertion —

Mr. "Wadsworth. I denounce it as a
slander.

Mr. Julian. And I denounce the gentle-
man's denunciation, and his defence of a rebel
sympathizer.

Mr. Speaker, Democratic policy, speaking
through officers high in command in the
army of the Potomac, now more than a year
ago, threatened to march upon the capital and
disperse Congress as Cromwell did the Par-
liament, because a joint committee of both
Houses of Congress was inquiring into the
conduct of the war. Democratic policy, when
General Fremont proclaimed freedom to the
slaves of rebels in Missouri, inundated the
Executive Mansion with falsehoods, which
had their coining in pro-slavery malice and
disappointed ambition ; and a Kepublican
President, yielding to a torrent which he
thought resistless, removed him from his
command; and although the policy of this
proclamation has since been accepted by the
Government, and the charges on which he
was hounded down are known to be false, yet
Democratic policy still deprives the country
of his service, because he is a Kepublican,
and an unbeliever in the supreme divinity
of slavery. Democratic policy holds in its
hands all the great machinery of this war,
and directs it according to his own will. Our
present commander-in-chief is a Democrat,
whose future management of the war, if we

are to judge from his past career, promises
nothing for the country. Of the major and
brigadier generals in our armies. Democratic
policy has favored this Kepublican Adminis-
tration, if I am not mistaken, with over
four-fifths — certainly an overwhelming ma-
jority ; while those great hives of military
patronage, the Adjutant General's Depart-
ment, the Quartermaster's Department, the
Commissary Department, the Ordnance De-
partment, and the Pay Department, are all
under Democratic control, and have been
during the war. Several of the heads of
these departments held their positions under
James Buchanan ; while Democratic policy
likewise controls the chief bureaus in the
Navy Department. Democratic policy has
not only studiously thrown into the back-
ground Kepublican generals, whose hearts are
in the war, and put in the lead political
generals of its own type, but has pursued the
same policy toward Democratic generals who
have evinced a change of views on the ques-
tion of slavery. Mitchell and Hunter are
cases in point, while Curtis is almost the
only Republican general who has been al-
lowed to hold an independent command in a
war ill which, according to the best attain-
able data, more than three-fourths of the
soldiers of the Union are Republicans. To
an alarming extent Democratic policy has
ruled in the Post Office, War, Treasury, and
Interior Departments, in which, after very
many long-delayed but greatly needed re-
movals, effected chiefly through Congres-
sional intervention, there are still hundreds
of Democratic clerks, of whom many are
known to be rebels in heart, and some of them
the appointees and pets of Davis, Floyd, and
Thompson. What is equally remarkable, is
the fact that the higher and more lucrative
grades of these positions are nearly all given
to Democrats ; while Democratic policy, ad-
hering to its ancient custom, under this Re-
publican Administration, bestows upon tha
District of Columbia, and such States as
Maryland and Virginia, a share of these
places in monstrous disproportion to that of
the free States of the North and West. I
can not go further into details ; but the fruits
of this Democratic policy are seen in great
military disasters ; in the wasted energies
and fading hopes of the people ; in reaction-
ary movements in the free States ; in threat-
ened intervention from abroad, and in im-
pending national ruin ; and without a speedy
change in our policy, no power but that of
God, through miraculous intervention, can
save our country.

Mr. Chairman, the time has come when
every true man in the Union should demand,
in the name of the country, that Democratic
policy shall rule it no longer. When the
nation is grasping for breath because the
honored leaders of Republicanism have been
infidel to its principles, plainness of speech is
a duty, and silence a crime. As a freeman,
and the Representative of freemen, it is at
once my right and my duty to utter what I

16

believe to be vital truth. I deeply regret the
necessity which impels me to criticise the
policy of the Administration. I honor the
President as the chief magistrate of the Ec-
public, and love him as a man. I have
received at his hands nothing hut personal
kindness and political respect. 1 stand ready
to make any earthly sacritice to sustain him
in this direful conflict with the rebel power of
the country, North and South. "Faithful
are the reproofs of a friend," and it is as his
friend, seeking to rescue the land from poli-
tical perdition, and not as a disguised rebel,
seeking to undermine his Administration,
that I speak. I tell him that his policy of
conciliating Democrats has been as ruinous
to our cause as the kindred policy of con-
caliating rebels. Instead of winning them to
our side, blotting out the lines of party, and
inaugurating an "era of good feeling," it has
breathed fresh life and vigor into the Demo-
cratic organization, which now everywhere
confronts us as a powerful and consolidated
opposition, while our own party is disbanded
and powerless. Sir, had the policy of the
Government been boldly Eepublican, making
good to ■ the people their victory over the
cohorts of slavery in 1860, every northern
State would to-day have been wheeled into
line on the side of the Administration, and
the Democratic party would have been linger-
ing on its death-bed. The war itself, I firmly
believe, would have been ended, and with far
less sacrifice of treasure and blood than we
have already incurred. 1 speak respectfully,
but earnestly, when I say the President must
stand by his friends, if he expects his friends
to stand by him. He must point the door to
ervery pampered pro-slavery rat in any of his
public cribs, and bestow the offices and honors
at his disposal upon those who believe in the
Republican idea. He should institute, as
speedily as possible, a general casting out of
devils from the various Departments of the
Government, and fill their places with men
who believe in God, and who have not out-
lived their consciences in serving as the
shameless scullions of the slave power. By
all means, and at the earliest moment, should
he insist upon a lustration of the military
Department, to purify it from the deadly con-
tamination of treason. This is a slaveholders'
rebellion. The rebellion, in fact, is " slavery
in arms," and therefore no man who believes
in slavery is fit for any high commiind. The
war is not a war of sections, but of ideas; and
we need and must have military leaders who
will conduct it in the light of this truth. To
the want of such leaders must be attributed
the delays and disasters of the struggle thus
far. General Sigel says :

"It is an enormous crime to expose our devoted
Boldicrs to the fury of a uiiit-i'd, dotermiiiod, and vigor-
ous enemy, on account of any heeitnncy to use the
right means at the riglit time, or b;/ plneinri men in hirjh
arid responsible positions wlio, on account of their former
as ociations and p edges, can never be. trusted bs sin-
cere friends of the Kepuhlic, nor expected to strike a
fatal blow at treasou and rebellion."

Sir, we must have commanders who will
fight, not simply as the stipendiaries of the

Government, but as men whose whole hearts
are in the work, and who believe, religiously,
in the rights of man.

" It is the heart, and not the brain,
That to the highest doth attain."

I believe you may search the history of the
world in vain for such armies as we now have
in the field. Their heroism upon every battle-
field, often under incompetent commanders,
and always under the most appalling dis-
advantages, must be the theme of everlasting
praise. They have seemed to understand this
quarrel from the beginning. They have
fought as only men could fight who counted
their lives as nothing in comparison with the
life of the Kepublic, and the imperiled cause
of libertj' on earth. The battle of Fredericks-
burg, where thousands marched into the jaws
of certain death without the wavering of a
hair, affords but a single example of the spirit
which has so ungrudgingly offered up so many
heroic lives during the war. Sir, I honor our
patriot soldiers as I honor no man, titled or
untitled, who walks the earth. Their example,
looming above the general profligacy and
faithlessness of mere politicians, has already
made humanity sublime, and anchored the
final triumph of our cause to the very throne
of the Eternal. In their name do I speak
when I plead that they shall be allowed to
fight our battles under competent and worthy
leaders, whose souls are on fire with a quench-
less zeal for our cause. In our war with
Mexico, as I am advised, no man was allowed
to hold the oflSce of major general of volun-
teers, or brigadier general, who was not a
member of the Democratic party. I believe
this policy was extensively carried out also as
to the subordinate places in our Army, at
least nine-tenths of which were conferred
upon the party in power. General Scott and
General Taylor were Whigs, but they held
their positions before the war, and during its
progress had to encounter a fierce and formid-
able opposition from the Administration and
its friends. I am not finding fault with this
policy, which I refer to as simply sliowing
that the Government, at that time, dispensed
its fiivors among its friends, and intrusted the
command of our armies to men who believed in
the war. This the Government .should do to-
day. This is a war of freedom and free
labor against a mighty aristocracy based upon
the ownership of men. Our aim is the over-
throw of that power, and the reorganization
of southern society on a republican basis; and
it should require no argument to prove that
men who believe in tliis aristocracy are. not
the most fit commanders in such a contest.
On this subject history is not wanting in les-
sons to guide us. As early as the year 1388
the cities of Germany, which had formed
four leagues in self-defence against the aris-
tocracy that lived only by its plunder of
commerce, were engaged in deadlj' conflict
for their rights. They made two mistakes,
which paved the way for their ruin. They
lost the symyathy of the peasantry, because
they fought only for the privileges of the

17

cities; and tliey appointed nobles to command
tlieir armies wlio cared more for their pro-
perty in the cities than for the rights of the
people. These nobles counselled " modera-
tion," and one of them proved a traitor on the
field of battle. Afterwards, city after city
fell into the hands of the aristocracy, and the
people became the prey of a swarm of petty
monarchs, who annihilated the external
power of the country, which groans under
their oppression to this day. The same
principle was illustrated in our revolutionary
war by the State of South Carolina, which
S'.varmed with royalists and tories, who, like
the rebels now in arms against us, loved
slavery more than they loved their country.
It is not possible to put down one privileged^
class through the leadership of another, un-
less their interests are antagonistical.

Jlr. Chairman, the fatal consequence of
losing sight of the principle I am now urging
has been seen in the recall of General Fre-
mont from his command of the Western
department. In the year 1856, his name had
been conspicuously identified with the great
political conflict which finally culminated in
a conflict of arms. He was -known to the
country less as a politician than as a jiatriot,
and a man of genius and dauntless courage;
and th re was a romance about his life and
name which kindled the popular enthusiasm
in his behalf to a very remarkable degree.
He entered upon his command at the end of
July with less than twenty-five thousand
effective men, poorly armed and equipped ;
and of these ten thousand were three months'
men, whose time expired in ten days from
his arrival. At the end of October he held
sixtj'' thousand square miles of the enemy's
country, and had succeeded in organizing
and equipping an army v/hich was every-
where successful along the whole extent of
liis lines. He had restored quiet and compa-
rative peace to the State of Missouri, while
the enemy was in full retreat before him.
Believing the revolutionary measures of the
rebels could only be put down by revolution-
ary energy, and that all moderation in deal-
ing with them v/as the expedient of weak men
or of traitors, he impressed his strong will
and earnest purpose upon every feature of his
administration. He saw then, what the
President has finally discovered and told us
in his last message, that "the dogmas of the
quiet past are inadequate to the stormy
present ;" that " as our case is new, so we
must think anew and act anew;" and that
" we must disenthral ourselves, and then we
shall save our country." I believe no com-
mander in the public service has thus fav
shown more military genius, or been more
successful, considering the circumstances of
his command ; and it should be remembered
to his credit that the victories of our arms in
the West, early in last year, were achieved
upon the exact lines of march which he
planned and published in September of the
preceding year. When he issued his pro-
claniiition of freedom the military enthasiasm

of the people was unchilled. With gladness
and thanksgiving they received it as a new
sign of promise. Even such Democratic
papers as the Boston Post, Detroit Free
Press, Chicago Times, and New York Herald,
approved of it, while it stirred and united the
people of the loyal States during the ten days
of life allotted it by the Government, far
more than any other event of this war. The
President, in an evil hour, annulled it ; and
the boiled-down malice and meanness which
it provoked, and which were poured out so
copiously through Adjutant General Thomas,
finfilly effected the intended change in the
command of this department. Prom this
conduct of the Government towards General
Fremont dates the pro-slavery reaction which
we now witness. Beginning then, it has
gained force and volume every hour since.
It balked the popular enthusiasm which else
would have drawn along with it even multi-
tudes of conservative men. It caused timid
and halting sjiirits to become cowards out-
right. It gave new life to the slave power,
and encouraged fiercer assaults upon "aboli-
tionism." The Democratic party, which the
war had pretty eflTectually driven into re-
tirement, began to assume its former preroga-
tives, and manifest its sympathy for treason.
Sir, I can never think of the woes and sor-
rows with which this war has deluged our
country within the past twelve months, with-
out deploring the malign influence which led
the Administration to strike down a Repub-
lican major general in the midst of a glorious
career, and in defiance of the sentiment of the
people, while Democratic generals, who wer-
lauded by every rebel synipathizer through-
out the country, and whose incapacity or dis-
loyalty could not have been unknowm to the
Government, have been persistently kept at
the head of our great military departments.

Mr. Chairman, while the past is beyond our
control, its lesson for the future should not go
unheeded. The Government can not "escape
history" ; but it can atone, in some degree, for
the great wrong it has done the country 'and
General Fremont, by restoring him, without
further delay, to active service, with a com-
mand befitting his rank and merits. Every
consideration of justice and patriotism pleads
for this. He has been the victim of the most
cruel injustice and the most unmerited and
mortifying humiliation. The President knows
this. The military conduct of General Fre-
mont will bear the most rigid scrutiny, while
his character is without a strain. The policy of
his proclamation has been vindicated by time,
and mora than vindicated by the Administra-
tion itself. Let this policy be committed to
the hands of its undoubted friends. The re-
storation of General Fremont would at once
signalize the earnestness and sense of justic*
of the President, and win back to him the
confidence of the people. It would be a con-
spicuous milestone in the progress of the Go-
vernment, and most fitly follow the grand
message which proclaimed freedom to mil-
lions on the first day of the new year. la th^

18

name of the country let it "be done; and let
restitution be made to every other oflicer in
our armies who has been tlie victim of Demo-
cratic policy. The Government, which at
first sought to s]iare slavery, now seelcs to
destroy it. At last it has a policy; and I
hold that no man is fit to lead our armies, or
to hold any civil position, who does not sus-
tain that policy. Our only hope lies in a
vigorous prosecution of the war and the over-
throw of Democratic rule. I care little for
inere names. Por such generals as Kose-
crans, Butler, Bayard, Rousseau, Wallace,
Dumont, and Corcoran, and such civilians as
Stanton, Bancroft, Owen, and Dickinson, I
have only words of praise. They are heartily
for their country, and as heartily despise the
Democratic leaders who gabble about com-
promise with rebels. The recognized leaders
of the Democratic partj', judged by their
avowed policy, are disloyal in spirit and pur-
pose. They talk about the " Constitution as
it is," while conniving at its destruction by
rebels, and oftering them peace on the basis of
a reconstructed Government and another Con-
stitution. They clamor for "the Union as it
was," and mean by this the Union more
■completely than ever under the domination
of slavery. I know what I hazard by this
freedom of speech. I know that should De-
mocratic policy continue to sway this Ad-
ministration, still further disasters may over-
take our arms. I know that the people may
finally reel and sicken under the prolonged
spectacle of blood and treasure poured out in
vain ; and that the restoi-ation of the Demo-
cratic party to power may be the result,
followed by a compromise inaugurating a
'' reign of terror" in the free States far more
relentless than that which prevailed in the
South prior to the war. Demagogues, point-
ing the people to the desolation and ruin of
the country caused by a profitless "abolition
war," and stimulated by southern leaders
hungering and thirsting for revenge, may
usher in an era of lawlessness and blood
scarcely paralleled in history. The leaders
of Republicanism, whose counsels, if followed,
would have saved the country, may be con-
fronted by dungeons, gibbets, and exile,
under the new policy which the slave power,
maddened by success, would dictate.

Sir, it is because of the remorseless despo-
tism which Democratic policy would certainly
establish that I denounce it, and plead with
the President to smite it with all the power of
the Government, if he would save either his
ountry or himself. The Republic of our

fathers at this moment swings in horrid
alternation between life and death. To falter
or hesitate now is self-destruction. Rose-
water statesmanship will not meet the crisis.
Nothing can save us but the earnestness
wliich finds its reflex in the rebels, and the
courage which gathers strength from despair.
A wise policy of the war is not enough.
Proclamations of freedom will, of themselves,
accomplish little. What we need is action,
instant, decisive, defiant action, scourging
faithless men from power, sweeping away
obstacles, and kindling in the popular heart
the fires of a new courage and hope. The
Government should arm the colored men of
the free States as well as the slaves of the
South, and thereby give efiect to the procla-
mation of freedom. It should at once organ-
ize a bureau of emancipation, to take charge
of the great interests devolved upon it by the
extinction of slavery. While paying a fair
assessment for the slaves of loyal owners, it
should digest an equitable homestead policy,
parceling out the plantations of rebels in small
farms for the enjoyment of the freedmen,
who have earned their right to the soil by
genei'ations of oppression, instead of selling it
in large tracts to speculators, and thus laying
the foundation of a system of land monopoly
in the South scarcely less to be deplored than
slavery itself. It should seize all property
belonging to traitors, and use it in defraying
the expenses of the war. It should, as far as
possible, send all disloj-al persons beyond our
lines. It should see to it that corrupt army
contractors are shot. It should deal W'ith
rebels as having no rights vinder the Consti-
tution, or by the laws of war, but the right to
die. It should make war its special occupa-
tion and study, using every weapon in its
terrible armory in blasting, forever, the
organized diabolism which now employs all
the enginery of hell in its work of national
murder, and threatens to make our country
the grave of liberty on earth. Such an
earnestness, thus born of the unutterable guilt
of the rebels and the peril of great and price-
less interests, and sustained by a firm faith in
the justice of our cause and the smiles of our
Maker, would speedily restore our country to
the glad embrace of peace, and reassure its
promise of free government to the victims of
despotic power throughout the world. Our
liberties would be saved from present de-
struction, and new pulsations of life would be
sent down through all the coming generations
of men.

ffomesteads for Soldiers on the Lands of Bebels.

SIPEimOS: OIF

Hon. GEOEQE W. JULIAN".

In the house OE EEPEESENTATIVES, Makch 18, 18C4.

The HousG liavins under consideration the
bill reported from the Committee on Pahlic
Lands amendatory of the homestead law,
together with the amendments thereto,

Mr. JxJLiAisr said :

Mr Speaker: During the past month I
prepared and reported from the Committee
on Public Lands a bill to provide homesteads
for persons in the military and naval service
of the United States, on the forfeited and con-
fiscated lands of rebels. The bill was re-com-
mitted and printed; and my purpose was to
discuss its provisions under the general call of
committees for reports, which will bring the
subject directly before the House for its ac-
tion. I find, however, in the crowded state
of our business, that this would delay my
purpose indefinitely; and I have therefore
■concluded to avail myself of the opportunity
now olfered to submit what I have to say.

The measure referred to will be considered
a novel one, but it should not therefore be
regarded with surprise or disfavor. Our
country is in a novel condition. The civil
war in which we are engaged is one of the
grandest novelties the world has ever seen.
We are every day brought face to face with
new questions, and compelled to accept the
new duties which lie in our path. Who-
soever comprehends this crisis, and is willing
to assume its burdens, must keep step to the
march of events, and turn his back upon the
past.

The bill I have reported, however, is less a
novelty in its principles than in their appli-
cation to new and vmlooked for conditions.
It involves, among other things, the policy of
of free homesteads to actual settlers; and
since this policy is now seriously menaced, I
may be allowed to refer briefly to the sub-
ject, by way of preface to what I shall have
"to say on the special matter before us.

Our homestead law was approved May the
20th, 1862. Its enactment was a long delayed,
but magnificent triumph of freedom and free
labor over the slave power. While that
power ruled the Government, its success was
impossible. By recognizing the dignity of
labor and the equal rights of the million, it
threatened the very 'life of the oligarchy
which had so long stood in its way. The
slaveholders understood this perfectly; and

hence they resisted it, reinforced by their
northern allies, with all the zeal and despera-
tion with vvhich they resisted " abolitionism"
itself. Its final success is among the blessed
compensations of the bloody conflict in which
we are plunged. This policy takes for granted
the notorious fact that our public lands have
practically ceased to be a source of revenue.
It recognizes the evils of land monopoly on the
public domain, as well as in the old States, /
and looks to its settlement and improvement
as the true- aim and highest good of theEe-
public. It disowns, as iniquitous, the princi-
ple which would tax our landless poor men a
dollar and a quarter per acre for the privilege
of cultivating the earth; for the privilege of
making it a subject of taxation, a source of
national revenue, and a home for themselves
and their little ones. It assumes, to use the
words of General Jackson, that " the wealth
and strength of a country are its population,"
and that "the best part of that population are
the cultivators of the soil." This bold and
heroic statesman urged this policy thirty-two
years ago; and had it then been adopted,
coupled with adequate guards against the
greed of speculators, millions of landless men
who have since gone down to their graves in
the weary conflict with poverty and hardship,
would have been cheered and blest with inde-
pendent homes on the public domain. Wealth
incalculable, quarried from the mountains
and wrung from the forests and prairies of the
AVest, would have poured into the federal
coft'ers. The question of slavery in our na-
tional territories would have found a peaceful
solution in the steady advance and sure em-
pire of free labor, whilst slavery in its strong-
holds, girdled by free institutions, might have
been content to die a natural death, instead of
ending its godless career in an infernal leap
at the nation's throat.

The homestead act did not go into eff'ect
till the first of January, 1863. Within four
months from that date, notv/ithstanding the
troubled state of the country, more than a
million of acres were taken up under its pro-
visions; and at the close of the year ending
September the 30th, this amount was in-
creased to nearly a million and a half. Peace
will soon revisit the land and resurrect the
nation to a new life. The energy and activ-
ity of the people, now directed to the business

20

of war, will be dedicated afresh to industrial
pursuits. Many thousands in the loyal Wtates
who will have caught the spirit of travel and
adventure, and far greater multitudes in the
old world who will ho tempted to our shores,
will lay hold of the homestead law as their
glad refuge and sure help. It will he the day-
star of hope to millions beyond the sea, as
it is now the fond child of the millions of our
own people who inarch under tlie old flag of
our fathers. Should it stand for ten years to
come, its blessings will outstrip the most san-
guine anticipations of its friends. Its over-
throw, I have said, is threatened; and this is
done by indirection, as well as open assault.
Since the date of its passage, Congress has
granted nearly seven millions of acres for the
benefit of agricultural colleges, and about
twenty millions to aid in the construction of
railroads. There are now pending before
Congress, bills making other grants for rail-
roads amounting to nearly seventy millions
of acres. We have a project before us which
grants nearly seven millions of acres for the
education of the children of soldiers ; another
granting two hundred thousand acres in the
State of Michigan for the establishment of
female colleges, which of course would be
extended to" the other States ; and another
granting ten millions of acres for the cstab-
mont of Normal schools for yoving ladies.
Every day witnesses the birth of new projects,
by which our public lands may be fritted
sway and the benificient policy of the home-
stead law mutilated and destroyed. And,
simultaneously with the development of this
backward movement, and as if to aid it, spec-
ulators are hovering over the public domain,
picking and culiiug largo tracts of the best
lands, and thus cheating the government out
of their productive wealth, and the poor man
out of the home, which else might be his at
tho end of the war. Whilst the homestead
policy is thus invaded by gradual approaches,
and indirect attack, its overthrow is boldly
demanded as a financial necessity. A veteran
public journalist, and one of the foremost
party leaders of our time, proposes to go back
from tho Christian dispensation of free homes
And actual settlement to the Jewish darkness
of land speculators and public plunder. He
v/ants money to pay our immense national
debt, and seeks to obtain it by levying on the
lands which the nation has already dedicated
by Iaw to occupancy and cultivation as the
.sure means of revenue. What we want and
tho(jrOvornment needs is immigration. This is
demonstrated by tho report of lion. Samuel B.
Ruggles, to the International Congress which
mcrat ]>urlin in last September. He takes
the eight food-producing States of Ohio, Indi-
ana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnes-
sota, Iowa, and Missouri, and shows that
between tho years 1850 and 18C0, their popu-
tion increased 3,554,095, of whom a very large
proportion were emigrants from the old States
and from Europe. He shows that this intlax
of population increased the quantity of im-
proved land in those States, within the same

period, 25,146,054 acres; tliat the cereal pro-
ducts of these States increased 248,210,028
bushels; that their swine increased 2,503,224;
their cattle 2,831,098. He further shows that
within the same period, the assessed value of
real and j)ersonal estate of these States was
augmented §2,810,000,000. These to a great
extent are the direct results of immigration ;
and in the light of these facts the interest and
duty of the (Jovernment are palpable. By all
hcmorable and reasonable means it should
tempt Europe to send her people to our
shores. From 1850 to 1800 tho immigration
averaged, annually, 270,762, giving a total of
5,062,414. Within the next ten years, should
the homestead policy continue, the number of
immigrants will probably far transcend all
precedent, while increasing multitudes from
our older States will join in the grand pro-
cession towards the West. If Thurlow Weed
wishes to use tlie public domain in paying
our national debt, here is the process. It is
simply to give heed to the divine injunction
to "multiply and replenish the earth." It is
to give liomes to the millions who need them,
and at the same time coin their labor into
national wealth by marrying it to the virgin
soil which woos the cultivator. It is to com-
pel the earth to yield up her fruits, so that
commerce may transmute them into silver
and gold. Thus only can we solve the prob-
lem of our finances, so far as the public lands
are concerned. The project of paying a debt
of three thousand millions of dollars, or even
the interest on it, by the sale of these lands,
is sublimely ridiculous; whilst the proposi-
tion to repeal the homestead law is a proposi-
tion to encourage speculation, to plunder the
Government, to betray the just rights of mil-
lions by violating the plighted faith of tho
nation, to hinder the march of civilization, and
to weaken the force of our example as a Ee-
public, asserting equal rights and equal laws
as the basis of its policy.

But I pass from this topic. I have adverted
to it, partly because I desired to sound the
alarm of danger in the ears of the people, and
thus avert its approach, and partly because
the considerations I have presented bear di-
rectly upon the measure now before the
House.

Mr. Speaker, this rebellion has frequently,
and very justly, been styled a slave-holders'
rebellion. It is likewise a land-holders' rebel-
lion, for the chief owners of slaves have been
the chief owners 'of hind. Probably three-
fourths, if not five-sixths of the lands in the
rebel states at the beginning of the war be-
longed to the slave-holders, who constituted
onh' about one-fiftieth part of the whole
population of those States; whilst of the entire
landed estate of the three hundred and fifty
thousand slave-holders of the South, at least
two-thirds belonged to less than one-third of
their number. I make my calculations from
our census tables, and such other information
as I find within my reach. The bill I have
reported, therefore, contemplates no general
seizure and confiscation of the property of the

21

people in the insurrectionary districts. It
looks to no sweeping measures against the
rghts of the masses, but simply to the break-
ing up and distribution of vast monopolies,
which have made the few the virtual owners of
the multitude, v;lietlier white or black. It is
a bill to restore the people to their inalienable
rights, by chastising the traitors who con-
spired against the government. It proposes
to vest in the United States the lands which
may be forfeited by confiscation in punish-
ment of treason, or of other crimes under
municipal laws; by confiscation as a right of
war, by military seizure, or by process in -rem;
and by sales of non-payment of taxes. The
quantity of real estate which shall thus pass
from the hands of rebels cannot now be defin-
itely determined, but in seeking to estimate
it we should bear in mind one important con-
sideration. The war which the rebels are
waging against us is no longer a mere insur-
rection. It is not a grand national riot, but a
civil, territorial war between them and the
United States. Having taken their stand
outside of the Constitution, and rested their
cause on the nalvcd ground of lawless might,
they have, of necessity, no constitutional
rights For them the Constitution has ceased
to exist. They are belligerents, enemies of
the United States. They still owe allegiance
to the government, and are still traitors, but
thej'' are at the same time public enemies, who
have simply the rights of war and are to be
dealt with according to the laws of war. The
rights of war and the rights of peace cannot
co-exist in the hands of rebels. One party to
a contract cannot violate it, and yet hold the
other bound; and hence the Constitution has
nothing whatever to do with our treatment of
the rebels, unless we shall see fit volunta-
rily to waive the rights of war, and deal with
them as citizens merely. I am not now ut-
tering my own opinion, but the solemn
judgment of the Nation itself, speaking au-
thoritatively through the highest court in the
Union. According to the decision, of that
court, a civil war between the United States
and the rebels has been carried on for more
than two years and a half. In the celebrated
prize cases decided last spring, and reported
in 2 Black's Keports, p. 635, Judge Grier says :
"the pai'ties to a civil war are in the same
predicament as two nations who engage in a
contest, and have recourse to arms;" that "a
civil war exists and maybe prosecuted, on the
same footing as if those opposing the govern-
ment were foreign invaders, whenever the
regular course of justice is interrupted by
revolt, rebellion, or insurrection, so that the
courts cannot be kept open;" and that "the
present civil war between the United States
and the so-called Confederate States has such
a character and magnitude as to give the
United States the same rights and powers
■which they might exercise in tlie case of a
national or foreign war." Such, Mr. Speaker,
is the law as to the relations existing between
the rebels and the United States. I am not
arguing the point, because all argument is

closed by this decision. The rebels are bel-
ligerents, and when they shall be eifeetually
vanquished, they will have simply the rights
of a conquered people under the law of nations,
that is to say, such rights as we shall choose
to grant them, according to the laws of war,
untrammelled by the Constitution of the Uni-
ted States.

In the light of this settled principle, Mr.
Speaker, I judge of the extent of rebel terri-
tory which must fall under our control. The
war will increase in intensity and fierceness
to the end. The exasperation of the rebels
will naturally keep pace with our successes.
Our war policy, which has been steadily grow-
ing more and more earnest and radical for the
past two years, will not again become a " war
on peace principles." The amnesty procla-
mation may reach the case of many, but
should it reach even all who are not expressly
excepted by its terms, there will still be au
immense territory falling under our power.
Sir, whether we have willed it or not, this is
now a war oi subjugation, and the law of na-
tions must govern the parties and the settle-
ment of the dispute. We shall not be con-
fined to the penal enactments of Congress on
the subject of treason, which require an in-
dictment, a regular trial, and a conviction.
The condemnation of rebel property need not
depend upon the prosecution of its owner
through a grand jury, who may be wholly or
in part secessionists, nor upon his conviction
by a petit jury of like character, nor upon the
finding ot a bill within any statute of limita-
tions. Eesting our case on the law of nations
and the laws of war, we are not compelled to
seek the land of the rebel through a trial
which must be bad in a country in which tho
ofience was committed, and in which both
couit and jury may be in sympathy with the
accused. The several penal acts of Congress
on these subjects, and the ordinary safeguards
of law applicable to the rights of citizens in
a time of peace are not in our way. The war
powers of the government, as asserted and
defined in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th sections
of the confiscation act of July 17, 1862, point
to a remedy as sweeping as it is just; namely,
the military seizure, condemnation, and sale
of the real estate of traitors and their abet-
tors. A considerable quantity of land, it is
true, may pass from the rebels by judicial
proceedings against them for treason, and
other crimes under municipal statutes. I
know, too, that millions of acres must be for-
feited by the non-payment of taxes. But,
independent of these sources of title, and by
virtue of militarj^ seizure and condemnation
alone, a very large proportion of the lands
within the insurrectionary districts, must vest
in the government of the Caited States.

If it be said that the government has no
right to confiscate the fee simple of rebel
States, I meet it with a direct denial. In
what I have said, 1 have taken this right for
granted. I have never doubted it for a mo-
ment, and I shall not now argue the question.
The hon.^st refusal of tho Tresidontj in last

t2

Juno, to allow Congress to touch the fee of
rebels in arms against the nation, was the
saddest and grandeet mistake of his life. That
the right to do so was disputed and dehatcd
in the last Congress, as it has hecn extensively
in this, hy some of our wisest statesmen antl
greatest lawyers, will hereafter he set down
among the political curiosities of this century.
Our fathers were not fools, but Avise men, Avho
nrmed the nation with the power to crush its
foes, as well as to protect its friends. '• The
Constitution was made for the people, not the
people for the Constitution." It was not de-
signed as a shield in the hands of traitors, but
as the sword in the hands of the government
to smite them to the earth. It recognizes th<i
law of nations and the laws of war ; nor was it
possible for our country to esca]ie them. The
builders of our national ship did not so fash-
ion and rig her that she could sail only in calm
weather and over smooth seas, but they qual-
ified her to ride out the fiercest tempest in
safety, and to defy all pirates. That the na-
tion, in this struggle for its life against red-
handed traitors and assassins, has no power
to confiscate their lands, is a proposition
which gives comfort to every rebel symjia-
thizer in the country, while 'it insults both
loyalty and common sense. The people know
better, and on this question, their voice must
be heeded. They do not believe, but they
Jcnow that the lands of rebels are subject to our
power under the laws of war, as well as their
personal property, their negroes, or their
lives. The government, in the course of this
struggle, has learned many lessons. Others
are yet to be mastered. Having learned how
to strike at slavery as the wicked cause of the
war, and to arm the negroes in the national
defence, it must now lay hold of the lands of
rebels. I believe our triumph over them is
not so near at hand as we generally suppose.
The most terrific fighting of the war is yet
to come. Thej' do not dream of surrender,
or compromise, on any conceivable terms.
They will resist us, to the end, with a spirit
as remorseless as death, and as bitter as the
ashes of hell. They must be overcome and
crushed by the powers of war, and we must
employ, with all the might which can be
kindled by the crisis, every weapon known to
the law of nations. Congress must repeal the
Joint resolution of last year which protects the
fee of rebel land-holders. The President, as
I am well advised, now stands ready to join
us in such action. Should we fail to do this,
the courts must so interpret the joint resolu-
tion as to make its repeal needless. Should
both Congress and the courts stand in the way
of the nation's life, then "the red lightning
of the people's wrath," must consume the re-
creant men who refuse to execute the popular
will. Our country, united and free, must be
saved, at whatever hazard or cost; and noth-
ing, not even the Constitution, must bo allowed
to hold back the uplifted arm of the govern-
ment, in blasting the power of the rebels for
ever.
I come, then, Mr. Speaker, to the practical I

question involved in this bill. This conflict
is to be ended by hard, desperate, and per-
haps protracted fighting. "\Ve shall certainly
win; and our triumph will inevitably divest
the little to a vast body of land in the rebel
Stat(!S, and place; it under our control. I
think it entirely safe to conclude tluit it will
constitute more than luilf, and probably threo-
fourths, of all the cultivated lands in the re-
bellious districts. It will certainly, in any
event, cover millions of acres. It will include
all lands against which proceedings hi ran
shall be instituted, undertheprovisions ofthc
act to suppress insurrections, and punish trea-
son and rebellion, approved July 17, 18G2; all
lands which may be sold under the provisions
of the act for the collection of direct taxes in
insurrectionary districts, approved June Tth,
1862; and a''l lands which may be sold under
the provisions of the act to provide internal
revenue to support the Government, ajiproved
July 1st of the same year.

"V\'hat shall be done with these immense es-
tates, brought within our power by the acts of
rebels ? One of two policies, radically antag-
onistic, must be accepted. They must be
allowed to fall into the hands of speculators,
and become the basis of new and frightful
monopolies, or they must be placed under the
jurisdiction of the Government, in trust for
the people. The alternative is now presented,
and presses upon us for a speedy decision.
Under the laws of Congress now in force, un-
checked b}' counter legislation, these lands
will be purchased and monopolized by men
who care far more for their own niereenarv
gains than for the real progress and glory of
our country. Instead of being parcelled out
into small homesteads, to be tilled by their
own independent owners, they will be bought
in large tracts, and thus not only deprive the
great mass of landless laborers of the oppor-
tunity of acquiring homes, but place them at
the mercy of the lords of the soil. The old
order of things will be SAvept away, but a new
order, scarcely less to be deplored, Avill suc-
ceed. In place of the slaveholding land-own-
er of the South, lording it over hundreds of
slaves and thousands of acres, we shall have
the grasping monopolist of the North, whoso
dominion over the freedmcn and jjoor Avhites
will be more galling than slavery itself, which
in some degree tempers its despotism through
the interest of the tyrant in the health and
welfare of his victims. The maxim of the
slaveholder that " capital should own labor,"
will be as frightfully exeniplified under the
system of wages-slavery, the child of land
monopoly, as under the system of chattel
slavery, which has so long scourged the south-
ern States. What we slmuld demand is a
policy that will guarantee homes to the loyal
millions who need them, and thus guard their
most precious rights and interests against the
remorseless exactions of capital, and the piti-
less rapacity of avarice. The helpless condi-
tion of the poor of the rebel States, when cap-
italists shall have monopolized the land, is
already foreshadowed iu the recent report of

23

Mr. Yeatman, of the Western Sanitary Com-
mission. He says :

" The poor negroes are everywhere greatly op-
pressed at their condition. They all testify that if
they were only paid their little waijes as they earn
them, so that they could purchase clothing, and i"ar-
nished with the p"ovisions promised, they could stand
it ; but to work and get poony paid, poorly fed, and not
doctored when sick, is more than they can endure.
Among the thousands whom I questioned none showed
the l(\tst unwillingness to work. If they could ouly be
paid fair wages they would be contented and happy.
They do not realize that they are free men. They say
that" they are told they are, but then they are taken
and hired out to men who treat them, so far as pro-
viding for them is concerned, for worse than their
' secesh' misters did. Besides this, they feel that
their i)iyor hire is lower now than it was when the
'secesh' used to hire them.

" ihe parties leasing plantations, and employing
these negroes, do it frr.m no motives, either of loyalty
O' humanity. The desire of gain alone prompts them,
and they care little whether they make it out of the
blood of those they employ, or from the soil. There
are, ot course, exceptions ; but I am informe.l that tlie
majority of ihe lessees were only adventurers, camp
followsrs, ' army sharks,' as they are termed, whu
hitve turn°d aside from what they consider their
legitimate prey, the poor soldier, to gatVier the riches
of the land which his pi-owess has laid open to them.
I feel that the fathers and brothers and friends of these
brave men should have an opportunity to reap, under
a more equitable system fir the labor, the reward of
the months of toil and exposure it has cost to open
this country to tlie institutions of freedom and com-
pensated labor. If these plantations were required to
be subdivided into parcels or tracts, to suit the views
and means of our western men, say in farms of from
one to two hundred acres, thousands would soon flock
to the South to lease them, especially when it was
known that one acre of ground there cultivated in
cotton would yield, in dollars, ten times as much as at
home. Besides, this subdivision would attract a loiial
population, who wo'ild protect the country against any
guerrilla bands thit might inlest it."

Mr. Speaker, the poor whites of the South
will be as powerless to take care of themselves
as the freedmen, unless the Government shall
arm them against their masters. "Subdivi-
sion'' of the land, as Mr. Yeatman says,
would also secure a loyal popuJat/on, since
every man who has a home to Jove and to
defend will naturally love his country. This
rebellion will present the strong-est tempta-
tions to land monopoly that were ever ofiered
to the greed of avarice and power. The
rich lands of the South have beencursed hy
this evil from the beginning, and without
the interposition of Congress the system will
be continued, and vitalized anew by falling
into fresh hands. The degraded and thrift-
less condition of the peop/e, the heritage of
centuries of bondage, wiJ] pave the way for
land monopoly in more g-rfevous forms than
have yet been recorded in ancient or modern
times. Society can not possibJy be organized
on a Republican basis, because a grinding
aristocracy, resting uj^on large landed
estates, will convert the mass of the people
into mere drudges and dependants. African
slavery may not exist in name, but the few
will practically control the fortunes of the
many, irrespective of color or race. In such
communities public improvements will neces-
sarily languish. Wasteful and slovenly farm-
ing will stamp upon the country the impress
of dilapidation, while reducing the pro-
ductiveness of the soil, and hindering the
growth of manufactures and commerce. In

the midst of large landed estates, towns and
villages can neither be multiplied nor enjoy
a healthy growth* The want of diversity of
pursuits and competition in business, will
palsy the energies of the people. The educa-
tion of the masses will be impossible, since
the establishment and support of schools
within convenient reach of the people can
not be secured. The proprietors of the great
estates, as has been well remarked, will be
feudal lords, while the poor will have no
feudal rights. Under the tendency of a
false system, society will steadily gravitate
towards the example of South America and
Mexico, where some estates are larger than
two or three of the smaller States of our
Union. The country will find its likeness
in England, in which the smaller land-
holders are daily being swallowed up by the
larger.

" In the civilized worM," says Dr. Clianning, "there
are few sadder specticles than the present contrast in
Great Britain ot unbounded wealth and lu.xury, with
the starvation of thousands and tens of thousand.s,
crowded into cellars and dens, without ventilation or
light, compared with which the wigwam of the Indian
is a palace. Jlisery, famine, brutal degradation, m the
neighborhood and presenee of stately mansions, which
ring with gaiety, and dazzle with pomp and unbounded
profusion, shock us as does uo oilier wretchedness."

Sir, the sympathy of the British aristocracy
for the rebels is altogether natural. Land
monopoly is slavery. The great English
landlord looks upon the large slaveholders of
the South as " brothers beloved," while the
"sand-hillers" and "clay-eaters" of Carolina
and Georgia are perhaps not more miserably
degraded by unjust laws than the English
agricultural laborer. Mr. Bancroft, describ-
ing the condition of Italy some two thousand
years ago, says :

"The aristocracy owned the soil and its eultiv.itors.
The vast capacity" for accumulation which the laws of
society secure to capital in a greater degree than to
personal exertion, displays itself nowhere so clearly as
in slaveholding States, where the laboring class is but
a portion of the capital of the opulent. As wealth
consists chiefly in land and slaves, the rates of interest
are, from universally operative causes, always com-
piratively high ; the difhculty of advancing with bor-
rowed capital proportionally great. The small land-
holder finds himself unable to compete with those who
are posses-ed of whole cohort-i of bondmen; his
slaves, his lands, rapidly pass, in consequence of his
debts, into the hands of the more opulent. The large
plantations are continually KW.allowing up the smaller
ones ; and land and slaves come to be engrossed by a
few."

This is not only an exact description of
slavery as we have seen it in the southern
States, but a parallel in principle to the
system of aristocracy in England, founded on
the monopoly of the soil. Travelers through
that country speak of it as "thinly settled."
Outside of the cities and towns this is true.
Even the commons, on which the poor used
to pasture their cattle and enjoy their games,
are now enclosed by legalized land robbers.
Those who demand a correction of these
evils, in the name of justice and the people,
are denounced as " Agrarians," just as the
enemies of slavery in this countrj- are brand-
ed as "Abolitionists." The slaveholding land
monopolists of this country are to-day repay-

24

ing the bitter fruits of their unrighteous
domination. A retribution to the aristocracy
of England, not less terrible, is as certain to
come as that pampered injustice finds no
liuiits to its demands.

But I need not dwell longer upon the evils
of land monopoly. The history of civiliza-
tion furnishes an unbroken testimony to these
evils, and thus pleads with us, in the organi-
sation of new civil communities, to fortify
OTirselves against them. A grand oppor-
tunity now presents itself for recognizing
the principles of radical democracy in the
establishment of new and regenerated States.
We are summoned by every consideration of
patriotism, humanity, and republicanism to
lay the foundations of empire upon the
"^during basis of justice and equal rights.
No revolutionary or destructive ineitsures are
required on our part. We are already in the
midst of revolution and chaos. Through no
fault of our own, the foundations of social
and political order in the rebel States are
subverted, and the elimination of a great
disturbing clement opens up our pathway to
the establishment of free Christian common-
wealths on the ruins of the past. These
States constitute one of the fairest portions of
tlie globe. They are larger in area than all
the free States of the North. They have a
sea and gulf coast of more than six thousand
miles in extent, and are drained by more
than fifty navigable rivers, Avhieh are never
closed to navigation by the rigor of the
climate. They htive at least as rich a soil
«s the States of the North, yielding great
wealth-producing staples peculiar to them,
and two or three crops in the year. They
have a finer climate, and their agricultural,
manufacturing, and commercial advantages
are decidedly superior. Their geographical
position is better, as respects the great com-
mercial centres of the world. The institution
of slavery, which has so long cursed these
regions by excluding emigration, degrading
labor, and impoverishing the soil, will very
soon be expelled. The cry which already
tiomes up from these lands is for free laborers.
If wo otfer them free homesteads, and pro-
tect their rights, they will come. John
Bright, in a recent speech at Birmingham,
astimates that within the past year 150,000
people have sailed from England to New
York. Let it be settled that slavery is dead,
and that the estates of traitors in the South
oan be had under the provisions of the home-
stead law, and foreign emigration will
be quadrupled, if not augmented tenfold.
Millions in the old world, hungering and
thirsting after the righteousness of free insti-
.tutions, will flock to the sunny South, and
mingle there with the swarms of our own
people in pursuit of new homes under kindlier
Rkies. Immigration has not slackened, even
during this war, and in determining the di-
rection it will take, it must bo remembered
that settlements have very nearly reached
their limits in the North and West. Kansas
.iUid Nebraska are border States, and n.u;t so

continue. Their storms, and draughts, and
desert plains give a pretty distinct hint that
the emigrant must seek his Eldorado in lati-
tudes further south. In the new North-
western States the richest lands have been
purchased, and vast portions of them locked
up by speculators. Their distance from the
great markets for their produce, and their
severe winters, will also check emigration in
that direction, and incline it further south,
if lands can be procured there with tolerable
facility. The rebel States not only abound
in cheap and fertile land, with cheap labor
in the ])ersons of the freedmen to assist in its
cultivation, but they possess great mineral
resources. They have also extensive lines of
railroads, which, in connection with their great
rivers, bring almost every portion of their ter-
ritory into communication with the sea.

Mr. Speaker, nothing can atone for the
woes and sorrows of this war but the thor-
ough reorganization of society in these re-
volted States. Now is the time to begin this
work. We must nfit only cut up slavery,
root and branch, but we must see to it that
these teeming regions shall be studded over
with small farms and tilled by free men. We
must remember that "the best way to help
the poor is to enable them to help them-
selves." We must guard the equal rights of
the people as a religious duty, for " Christi-
anity is the root of all democracy, the highest
fact in the rights of man." Labor must be
rendered ho;n)rable and gainful, by securing
to the laborer the fruits of his toil. Instead
of the spirit of Caste and the law of Hate,
which have so long blasted these regions, wo
must build up homogeneous communities, in
which the interest of each will be recognized
as the interest of all. In.stead of an over-
shadowing aristocracy, founded on the mono-
poly of the soil, and its dominion over tlie
poor, we must have no order of nobility but
that of the laboring masses of the country,
who fight its battles in war, and constitute
its glory and its strength in peace. Instead
of large estates, widely scattered settlements,
wasteful agriculture, popular ignorance, poli-
tical and social degradation, the decay of
literature, the decline of manufactures and
the arts, contempt for honest labor, and a
pampered aristocracy, we must have small
farms, closely associated communities, thrifty
tillage, free schools, social independence, a
health}'- literature, flourishing manufactures
and mechanic arts, respect for honest labor,
and equality of political rights. These ends,
to a great extent, are provided for by the bill
I have introduced, and no measure of more
vital interest to the people has ever been
submitted to the Congress of the United
States. I voted for the bill which has passed
tiiis House, providing for a Bureau of Eman-
cipation, but I must regard this measure as
a far better " frccdman's hill" than that of my
honorable friend from Massachusetts, for it
provides for the emancipation of all races,
and the freedom of labor itself. Those re-
gions, blighted by treason, must bo cared for

25

or abandoned, liy the general Government.
The heaven-daring conspiracy of rebels in
arms has placed them, or will place them, at
our feet. Shall we hand them over to the
speculator, in the hope of thereby securing a
revenue to pay our national debt ? I have
shown that the true source of revenue is the
cultivation of the soil. The future of these
rebellious States, involving the well-being of
millions for generations to come, is now com-
mitted to our hands. We can re-enact over
them the political and social damnation of the
past, or predestinate them to the blessedness
and glory of a grand and ever-unfolding
future. We can build up a magnificent con-
stellation of free commonwealths, whose terri-
tory can support a population of more than
one hundred millions, on the basis of free
labor and a just distribution of land among
the people; or we can again organize society
after the pattern of Europe, and thus spare
the hideous cancer, which, in the words of
Chateaubriand, '-has gnawed social order
since the beginning of the world." Can we
hesitate, in dealing with so fearful an alterna-
tive? Shall we mock the Almighty by sport-
ing with the heaven-permitted privilege now
placed before us? Shall we heap curses on
our children, when blessings are within our
grasp? Sir, let us prove ourselves worthy of
our day and of our work. Let us rise to the
full height of our sublime opportunity, and
thus make ourselves, under Providence, the
creators of a new dispensation of liberty and
peace. Then, in the eloquent language of
Solicitor Whiting, "the hills and valleys of
the South, purified and purged of all the guilt
of the past, clothed with a new and richer
verdure, will lift up their voices in thanks-
giving to the Author of all good, who has
granted to them, amidst the agonies of civil
war, a new birth and a glorious transfigura-
tion. Then, the people of the North and the
people of the South, will again become one
people, united in interests, in pursuits, in in-
telligence, in religion, and in patriotic devo-
tion to our common country."

As regards the particular provisions of the
bill before us, I need not occupy much of the
time of this House. It has been printed, and
gentlemen have had the opportunity of ex-
amining it for themselves. It has been pre-
pared with much care, and with the assistance
of some of the best lawyers in the Union.
The first and second sections of the bill
provide the methods by which the title of
rebel land owners shall vest in the United
States under the acts of Congress now in
force on the subject of confiscation and re-
venue. I shall not discuss the power of the
Government thus to acquire the title to this
land, for it can not be controverted without
overturning all the legislation of the last
Congress on the subject of confiscation, in-
ternal revenue, and the collection of taxes in
insurrectionary districts. I have, in fact,
already argued the question of power, in
what I have said of our relations to the
rebpls as belligerents.

The third section provides for the survey
of the lands in question as nearly as may be
in forty acre lots. This is deemed necessary
from the fact that in several of the insurrec-
tionary districts the old system of irregular
surveys exists, and not the present or rect-
angular system. The section also provides
for the appointment of necessary officers and
their compensation, and contemplates the ap-
plication and use of the machinery of the
General Land Office within such districts.

The fourth section gives a homestead of
eighty acres to all soldiers who shall have
served in the army or navy two years, and
forty acres to all persons who shall have aided
in the militarj^ service against the rebels for
any period of time, either as soldiers or la-
borers. It also extends the provisions of the
homestead act of 1862 over these lands, and
thus avoids any new and cumbersome regula-
tions, and exacts a continuous residence of
five years to consummate the title.

The fifth section provides that after keep-
ing the lands open for homesteads for five
years, those remaining vacant shall be sold at
public sale. It prohibits the sacrifice of
them by fixing a minimum price, which they
must bring. It also requires the purchaser
to comply with the pre-emption act of 1841,
prior to his receiving a patent, thus demand-
ing a residence on the land and precluding an
accumulation of it in the hands of specula-
tors. These safeguards look to the benefit of
the mass, and not the interests of a few, even
after homesteads have been selected. This
section also provides that proof of loyalty
shall be made by all persons claiming rights
under the bill.

The sixth section, as will be seen, requires
no comment. The seventh requires persons
selecting improved lands to pay for whatever
may be found of value on them, after an
appraisement by persons regularly appointed
for the purpose, and to pay the costs created
by the proceeding. The effect will be that
the expenses created by the act will be paid
into the Treasury of the United States, and
may exceed the expenditures which will be
connected with its operations.

The eighth section establishes an obviously
just if not a necessary rule of construction as
to persons of color, giving them equal rights
with white men, and extends the inchoate
rights of a settler to his heirs, or widow, who
may complete payments and make proof.

The ninth section places the execution of
the act in the Department of the Interior, or
that more immediately connected Avith the
land system ; and the last section repeals all
laws inconsistent with the provisions of this
act. I will only add, that the act has nothing
to do with real estate in towns, cities, and
villages, which will, of course, continue to bo
gold as heretofore.

Those, Mr. Speaker, are the material pro-
visions of the bill. They embody principles
which I have endeavored to vindicate, by
argument and by fact. If I am right, then
every moment of delay is a golden oppor-

26

tnnity wasted forever. .Under the present
policy of the government every passing day
bears witness to the transfer of tliousands
of acres of forfeited hinds to specidators. Ac-
cording to Judge Underwood, more than two
hundred millions of dollars worth of property
in the State of Virginia, chiefly real estate,
should be confiscated by the Government.
Thousands of acres are now being sold in the
vicinitj'- of this city. In September last, the
President of the United States issued instruc-
tions to the Tax Commissioners of South
Carolina, providing for the sale of 40,845
acres, of which 24,31G acres were to be sold to
the highest bidder, in tracts of 320 acres. The
remainder was to be sold to the heads of
African families, for such sums, not less than
one dollar and tweutj'-tive cents per acre, as
the Government should see fit to demand.
These sales are portions of a lot of 7G,775
acres offered on the 9th of last March, when
16,479 acres were sold to speculators ; making
an aggregate of 40, 795 acres, which will have
been sold in large tracts, leaving for the
negro onl}- 16,479 acres which he may buy^ if
he can raise the money to pay the price fixed
by the Government. Such tiansactions as
these, in Port Royal, where so much has
been hoped for the freedman, are most signi-
ficant. If any people have a divine right to
these tropical lands, they are the slaves who
have bought them, over and over, by their
sweat and toil and blood, through centuries
of oppression. Degraded and imbruited by
servitude, mere children in knowledge and
self-help, we require them to compete for
their homesteads with the sharpened facul-
ties of the white speculator, schooled in
avarice by generations of money getting,
who believes tho almighty dollar is the only

living and true God, and would " run into
the mouth of hell after a bale of cotton."
Sir, our Government is false to its trust,
infidel to its mission, if it shall lend its high
sanction to such wanton injustice and wrong.
Had I the power I would give a free home
on the forfeited land of rebels to every bond-
man in the insurrectionary districts. Let
the Government at least give him an equal
chance with our own race, in the settlement
and enjoyment of his native land. Less than
this would be a mockery of justice and an
insult both to decency and humanity. He is
excluded from tlie Northern States and ter-
ritories by their uncongenial climate, by his
attachments to his birth place, and by Anglo-
Saxon domination and enterprise. Let the
Government which has so long connived at
his oppression now make sure to him a free
homestead on the land of his oppressor. Let
us deal justly with the African, and thereby
lay claim to justice for ourselves. Let us re-
member, in the language of our patriotic
Chief Magistrate, that " We cannot escape
history. We of this Congress, and of this
administration, will be remembered in spite
of ourselves. No personal significance or in-
significance can spare one or another of us.
The fiery trial through which we pass will
light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the
latest generation. In giving freedom to the
slave, wo assure freedom to the free; honor-
able alike in what we give and what we pre-
serve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose,
the last best hope of earth. Other means
may succeed; this could not fail. The way
is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way
which, if followed, the world will forever
applaud, and God must forever bless."

Somesteads for Soldiers— Who are their Friends?

sipeikicih: oib^

Hon. GEOEGE ^Y. JULIAIsT

In the house OP KEPEESENTATIVES, Mat 12th, 18G4.

The House having under considenitiou the
bill to secure to persons iu the militarj- or naval
service of the United States homesteads on con-
fiscated or forfeited estates in insurrectionary
districts, aa^ for other purposes —

Mr. Julian said:

Mh. Speaker: I propose this morniug, after
briefly referring to some of the objec-tious which
have been urged against this bill, to call for
a final vote upon it. I discussed its principles
and policy several weeks ago in a somewhat
carefully prepared speech. Other gentlemen
have since resinned the argument; and believ-
ing the House now prepared to vote upon the
pi-bposition, I do not wish to hinder other im-
jiortant legislation by needlessly prolonging the
debate. If there is any besetting sin which can
fairly be charged to tliis Congress it is a redun-
dancy of talk.

The gentleman from Kew York [Mr. Fer-
nando Wood] objects to this measure because,
as he asserts, it assumes that the Union is never
by any possibility to be restored. He thinks it
recognizes and aims at the destruction of the
Union, and says he never will do anything to
hinder its restoration.

Sir, I do not understand the force of the gen-
tleman's objection. I do not see how the con-
fiscation of the lands of rebels in arms
against the Government, or the sale of aban-
doned estates for the non-payment of taxes by
the vilhiius who have forced the Government to
levy them, can in any degree harm the integri-
ty of this Union. On the contrary, if the Union
is to be saved at all, the best practicable mode
of doing it is to lay hold of these confiscated
lands and these abandoned estates and make
such disposition of them as is proposed by this
bill.

Mr. Fernaxdo Wood. I am very sure the
gentleman from Indiana would not intentionally
represent me as saying what I did not say. I
said the bill was an obstruction to the restora-
tion of tlie Union. That was one of the objec-
tions I made to it.

Mr. Julian. I accept the gentleman's quali-
fication, but I do not see how it relieves him. I
wish he had explained in his speech on yester-
day how the passage of this bill could in any
way obstruct the restoration of the Union. On
the contrary, I think it would do more to ce-
ment and perpetuate the Union than any legis-
lative measure that could possibly be devised.
Here, for instance, are lands belonging to Toombs
of Georgia, a conspicuous rebel. He owns as I
understand, some forty thousand acres of rich
land in the State of Texas; enovigh to furnish
an independent homestead of one hundred
acres each to four hundred soldiers of this war.
How will it militate against the restoration of

the Union to parcel out these lands in free
homesteads to the soldiers and sailors now
fighting for the life of the Republic? Can the
gentleman tell?

Let me state another fact. Mr. Thompson,
one of the Cabinet ministers of Jimmy Bu-
chanan, owns lands which are said to be worth
$1,000,000, bonglit by him at from ten to eighty
cents an acre. I do not comprehend how the
confiscation of these estates and their distribu-
tion among our soldiers can endanger the Union ;
how it can do otherw'ise than subserve the ends
of justice, order, liberty, and peace in the re-
volted States. These are the pledges, not the
perils, of a real Union.

Here is another conspicuous rebel, Robert TT.
Johnson, of the State of Arkansas, holding an
estate perhaps equally as large; and I believe
Davis, Floyd, Wigfall, Slidell, Cobb, andin fact
all the rebel chiefs have largely monopolized
the lands of the South, while" owning and di-
recting the labor of the people, black and
white.

This bill proposes to jiarcel out all these
estates among the soldiers and seamen of this
war, and the gentleman from New York says it
will obstruct the restoration of the Union ?

Mr. Speaker, let me submit to the gentleman
from New York a few other facts. Under the
legislation of Congress in the old days of slave-
breeding Democracy, when old Jimmy Bu-
chanan was its king, and such men as the gen-
tleman from New^ York were its anointed high
priests, grants were made to the States of Ala-
bama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississipi)i and Ar-
kansas, luulcr the name of •-swamp lands,"
amounting to more than thirty million acres,
and which are to-day the very richest lands iu
America. These lands were chiefly bought up
afterwards by the men wl)o are now conspicu-
ous rebels, and many of them traitors in arms
against us.

The gentleman from New York argues that if
we seize these lands and parcel them out among
our soldiers it will hinder the restoration of the
Union. Sir, I am utterly at a loss to know how^
this can be true. I apprehend, however, that
when he talks about restoring the Union he
means one thing, and I mean exactly the oppo-
site, lie means the Union as it was when the
slave power ruled the country like a throned
monarch, and when Davis. Floyd, Thompson,
and tJieir confederate cut throats and pirates
were in the cabinet, in Congress, representing
us at the courts of the Old World, and ruling
the Government according to their own free
will.

Mr. Kalbfleisch. I would ask the gentle-
man whetlicr he means James Buchanan when
he talks of ''old Jimmy Buchanan?"

Mr. Julian, I think the gentleman can guess
my meaning pretty shrewdly if be will remem-

28

bor that I ftroupfd him witli Floyd aticl Thomp-
son, his lii.^tinguislK'd Cabinet ministers, and
brolhei-s beloved in the work of undermining,'
tlie Union. I called him "old, linunv Buchan-in"
I'.imiliarly, not dreaming that it would ollend
any loyal man on this floor.

I was about to say, Mr. Speaker, when inter-
rnfjted, that if the gentleman from New York
demands tlie restoration of the Union as it was
when the Demoeratie party, in the evil davs of
the past, ruled the Government absolutidy in
the interest of slavery, and when the nation
was steadily gravitatins; under the accumula-
ting weight of its guilt toward the botto,niess
pit of national ruin, then I am not for the Union
as it was, but as it will be when this reliellion
shall have wrought out its providential lesson
in these States, and scourged the ilave-brecd-
ing Democracy forever from our land. I am
for a Union of regenerated States, resting
xipon the basis of free labor and the rights of
man, and disowning, as an atrocious libel upon
humanity and republicanism, the dogma which
demands that slavery shall be the corner-stone
of the Government, as those rebels and their
sympathizers have labored so long to make it.

Mr. Si)eaker, the gentleman from New York
8ays that it would be 'unconstitutional' to pass
this bill. I am again at a loss to know what the
gentleman means by his argument. If it be
unconstitutional to pass this bill, then all the
legislation of Congress since this rebellion be-
gun is unconstitutional and void. Our tax
laws and revenue laws, enacted during the past
three years, are all unconstitutional, including
the tax bill which recently passed this House.
If this bill is unconstitutional, then our grand
armies that have from time to time been raised
by authority of the Government were uncon-
stitutionally raised, equipped, and employed.
Every gun and every cannon fired in the na-
tional defense has been imconstitutionally lev-
eled at the rebels. The war itself is an uncon-
stitutional war, the President and Congress are
guilty of usurpation and treason, and the most
loyal men in the country are such as the con-
victed felon wlio once held a seat on this floor
from the State of Ohio, and is now in exile,
and the still more "unworthy" gentleman from
Maryland, [Mr. Harris,] who prays God to-dav
that the armies of the Union mav never prevail
over the organized thugs and assassins whose
daggers are aimed at the nation's heart. Ac-
cording to this philosophy the Constitution
itself is clearly unconstitutional, and tliere is no
sure guide left us save the new gospel of peace
as expounded by the distinguished gentleman
from New York.

Sir, I do not exactly accept those Democratic
revelations, and I say again that if this bill,
which we propose to vote upon to-dav, is un-
constitutional, then all the endeavors of this
Government to put down the rebellion are un-
constitutional, the gentlemen on the other side
of the TIou«o are on the loyal side, we who sup-
i)ort tlic Government are the enemies of the
country, and as the remedy for all our troubles,
the adniinistralion should be utterly overthrown
and George B. McChdlan chosen President.
Our h(?aven should be slavery, and the devil
ffhoiild be our God. Mr. Speaker, I respectfully
decline the espousal of this unsavory Demo-
cratic^ faith.

But the gentlem-in from New Y'ork says ho
suspected, when this bill was introduced, that
there was a "nigger" in it, and that upon inves-
tigation he has found him. lie refers to the Ne-
braska bill, of which Colonel Benton said ithad
u stump speech iu its belly, and says that this

bill has a "little nigger'^ in its belly. The con-
temptuous si)iritand characteristic language of
the gentleman from New York would commend
him to tiie kindly consid(;ration of the hero of
the Fort Pillow l)utchcries, or the ringleaders of
the late pro-slavery mob in New York. General
Forrest in his recent exploits, only displayed a
larger measure of the same unchristian and un-
manly hatred of "the nigger,"which the gentle-
man from New Y''ork exhibits on this floor as a
leader of the "i)eace Democracy !" Is it strange
that the rebels of the South should defy human-
ity in their treatment of the negroes? But,
Mr. Speaker, why is the gentleman unwilling
that negro soldiers shall have a homestead on
their native soil? They have enlisted in the ser-
vice of their country; they are sharing all the
perils and hardships of war; they are helping
by their valor to achieve our victories and save
the nation from impending destruction; they
are to-day covering themselves with glory un-
der General Grant, in driving back General Lee
and his legions. The country now pays them
the same wages as our white soldiers. Why
would the gentleman from New Y'ork refuse to
grant them, at the end of tlie war, a home on
the land of their op])resssors, who have en-
slaved their race for more than two hundred
years, and at last sought both their lives and
the life of the Republic?

IMr. Mallory. I wish, with the permission
of the gentleman from Indiana, in connection
with the remark he has just made, to inquire of
him, if he will be kind enough to answer,
whether it is not one of the provisions of this
bill that the negro soldier may go and settle
alongside of the white soldiers upon these confis-
cated lands in the rebel States, and other lands
which may come into possession of the General
Government? If that be so, then I wish to ask
the gentleman whether he docs not intend this
as one of a series of acts by which he desires to
work out the entire equality, social and politi-
cal, of the uegro with the white man in this
country?

I desire also, in addition, before the gentle-
man replies to that (luestion, to ask him
whether he does not himself believe that if the
negro is employed as a soldier in the Army un-
der the policy inaugurated by this Government
to maintain its liberties, as he says— I say
whether he does not himself believe it to be
wrcng and unjust for the black soldier wlio
served his country on the battle-field to be de-
nied social and political equality with the white
soldier? I desire to know the opinion of the
gentleman particularly as ivprcsenling the pe-
culiar portion of the party on that side of the
House with which he acts.

Mr. Juf>iAN. I take pleasiu-e in answering
the gentleman, but when he speaks of the "i>e^
culiar portion" of the party with which I act I
do not know what he means.

Mr. Mai.lory. I suppose; the gentleman will
allow us to be as familiar with his party as he
assumes to be wdth the Democratic party when
he speaks of "Jimmy Buchanan." The'gcntle-
nian of course understands his position on that
side of the House.

Mr. Juf.iAM. I trust the gentleman will iind
when the vote comes to be taken on this bill
that I am identified with no "peculiar party"
on this side of the House which sei)aratrs ine
from the <o'eat body of the uncondition;'.!
Unicm men in this Hall or throughout the coun-
try, I ralher think the gentleman is right in
Ills remark that I understand my political posi-
tion .

In answer to the question of the gentleman

29

from Knntucky I liave to sav tliat I mean by
this bill precisely what the bill says in its plain
English words. I mean that when this war is
over the black soldier, as Avell as the white sol-
dier shall have a homestead of forty or eighty
acres, as the bill provides, upon the lands of
these rebels which shall be contlscated or other-
wise come into the possession of tlie Govern-
ment. I mean, in other words, that they shall
have equality of rights as to the ownership of
the soil in these insurrectionary States.

As to the question ot social equality, I be-
lieve the negro will work out that problem for
himself under the new dispensation which the
military anfl legislative power of the Govern-
ment are now inaugurating. I do not propose
to enter into any nice speculations upon this
subject, but I have no opinion to conceal. 1 be-
lieve in doing justice to the negro, in guarding
his rights, and in giving him fair play in light-
ing his own battle, leaving his social position to
be determined by liisown conduct, and the con-
ditions of life in" which he may be placed. For
one I have no fear whatever of African dom-
ination. I trust the gentleman from Kentucky
is not seriously alarmed. I must say, however,
tJiat I hope no rebels or rebel sympathizers will
ever have any superiority of rights over the
negro soldiers who have aided in crushing the
rebellion. Should African domination take
its turn, I trust it will lind its true subjects.

Mr. Mallory. As the gentleman from In-
diana is very candid and distinct in his utter-
ances and the expression of his opinions, I do
not think he will object if I endeavor to under-
stand exactly where he stands on this question
before this colloquy is ended. I distinctly ask
the gentleman whether he does not contemplate
by the bill before the House, by which he propo-
ses to put negroes alongside of white men upon
these confiscated lands, to establish a perfect
equality of the negro with the white man; in
other words whether he does not advocate that
the negro shall vote and hold office, and be fully
the white man's equal? I understand the gcii-
tleman to acknowledge that to be true. I un-
derstand him in his answer to avow that he is
willing that politically the negro and white man
sliall be ef|ual, but that as to social equality that
was a matter which the negro would settle for
himself as soon as the shackles of bondage
were removed. I understand that to be the
answer of the gentleman from Indiana. If not,
I hope the gentleman will be explicit.

jNIr. Julian. I think I have answered the
gentleman fully. I will say in reference to the
right of the negro to vote

Mr. Mallouy. And hold cfHce.

Mr. Julian. I will say that under the Con-
stitution of our Government, which I hope to
see preserved, as does the gentleman from Ken-
tucky—the right of sufl'rage in the States is to
be determined by the States themselves. When
these revolted reunons shall be regenerated and
dotted over with free homesteads, tilled by the
labor of freemen, and when these negroes have
been converted from chattels into men, with a
common right to the soil and stake in society,
then the legislative bodies of these rebaptized
States will probably deal with the question of
suffrage on just principles. I think they will
not decline the logic^al consequences of radical
democracy. But I shall be for leaving that
matter tothem,as it is now left to Massachusetts
and Kentucky. If they shall see fit to recognize
the right of the negro "to cast his ballot; if the
right of voting is conferred upon all without
discrimination as to color or race, I can only say
that I would not pronounce it au unwise policy.

But I would submit that question to the States
themselves. I believe the States of North Care-
Una and Tennessee once allowed negroes to vote;
and the gentleman will remember that not very
many years ago two very prominent public
men of those States, Hon. George E. Badger and
Hon. John Bell, admitted that thev had been
elected to otlice over their competitors by the
votes of colored men. The case of Mr, Bell, I
think, was his first election to Congress.

The gentleman will also remember that sev-
eral of the slave States, and nearly all the non-
slave-holding States, permitted colored men to
vote at the date of the formation of the Gov-
ernment; and they did vote, as he must know,
upon the question of adopting the Constitu-
tion.

Mr. Mallory, I think I have obtained an
answer from the gentleman from Indiana, and
I want to show what I understand that answer
to be, so that there may be no mistake in the
future. I understand him to say that these
States may extend to this black population who
settle upon these lauds the right of suUVnge and
the right to hold office. I understand the gen-
tleman to say that while as a citizen of Indiana,
or Representative from that State, he has no
control over the matter, yet if he had any con-
trol over the matter his vote and voice would
be in favor of the exercise of the right of suff-
rage and to hold political otlice by the black
men in the revolted States, I understand the
gentleman to say if lands in Indiana be confis-
cated—and I believe it is alleged there are men
there whose property may be confiscated— and
these black men are located upon them, he will.
as a potential member of the Kepul)lican party,"
advocate the enjoyment of the elective fran-
chise by black men, of the political equality of
the negro with the v.hite man. That I un-
derstand to be the exact object and aim of this
bill, I ask whether it is not the entering wed"e
for the purposes I have indicated, "^

Mr. Julian. I fear I shall not be able to
satisfy the geni Ionian's remarkable thirst for
knowledge, and for exact information as to the
ulterior purposes of this bill and my own in-
tentions in urging its passage. If the bill, by a
fair interpretation of its language, is a good or.e
and should command the gentleman's support,
I hope he will not fight it because he fears it
will be "the entering wedge" to revolutionary
measures, or that my own intentions reach too
far into the distant and uncertain future, I
hope he will calm his fears. As to rebel lands
in Indiana, the gentleman knows, if he has read
the bill, that it applies oulv to the States in in-
surrection. As regards his reiterated questions,
let me remind tlie gentleman that if he will re-
member the answers I have already given him
he will find that they respond fuliv and fairly
to what he asks. As respects the question of
••negro equality," let me say to the gentleman
that I do not think he ought to press it. consid-
ering his relations to his brethren in the Soutli.
I think tlie subject a somewhat delicate one for
Democratic gentlemen to deal with,

Mr. MALLOiiY. I would like to have the gen-
tleman explain that.

Mr. Julian. I will do so. We who are
known as Ilepublicans and unconditional Union
men sometimes associate with negroes. They
live among us, and of course we have dealings
with them. But no such intimate relations
exists between them aiul us as vre find existino-
between them and the Democrats South. Con*^
tinually, habitually, and as the result of a weil-
recognized law of social order, the slave
mothers and slave masters of the South are

BO

brought on the level of social equality in its
moi't loathsome forms. In some of tlie reliel
States I believe the number of mulattoes is nearly
equal to the number of Democratic voters. In
the State of Mississippi, if I am not mistalcen,
wherever you find an orthodox modern Demo-
crat you will lind a mulatto not very far off.
The gentleman cannot deny this form of social
equality, unless he can show tliat llicse niulat-
toes sprouted up from the soil, or were rained
down from the clouds, or reported their pres-
ence throu^irh some other miracle. The social
equality between negro women and Anglo Sax-
on Dernocrats is the natural consequciice aiul
necessary fruit of the institution which has
proved itself to be the mother of treason and of
all lesser abominations.

Mr. Mali.ouy. The Census Bureaxi estab-
lishes the fact that one-sixth of the colored popu-
lation of the Kortli liave white blood in their
A'eins, while only one-ninth of the slave popula-
tion have white blood in them.

Mr. Julian. I have not examined the census
tables as to the fact stated by the gentleman.
It may be true, for I believe mulattoes more
generally come into the northern States, than
those of a darker color, and of course their in-
crease will be mulattoes. The gentleman is not
at all relieved, however, by the white blood in
the veins of these negroes lu the North, for
they have migrated from the South, bringing
with them, perhaps the blood of the gentle-
man from Kentucky, and other distinguished
leaders ot his party. [Laughter.]

Mr. Mallory. "I have to say that the one-
ninth white blood which exists in the South
may be attributed to the fact that we have
among us northern teachers, schoolmasters, and
peddlers. [Laughter.]

Mr. Julian. The gentleman assigns entirely
too large a work to these itinerant Yankees.
Certainly, my friend from Kentucky does not
believe them to be so wonderfully endowed, or
so marvelously successful over able and experi-
enced Democratic rivals. Besides, I think it
was John Randolph who said that "the best
blood of old Virginia courses in the veins other
slaves." It was not the blood of northern
schoolmasters and peddlers, but Virginia blood,
and what is true of Virj^inia may fairly be as-
gumed as to other slave States.

3fr. Mallory. Mr. Speaker

Mr. Julian. I prefer not to be further inter-
rupted in this direction. 3Iy time is rapidly
expiring.

Mr. Mallory. I wish the gentleman to an-
swer my serious question, and not act the dema-
gogue upon this occasion.

Mr. Julian. The getitleman imputes to me
that which I think belongs exclusively to
himself on this occasion.

]Mr. Mallory. The gentleman is mistaken.

Mr. Julian. I decline to yield further.
"When interrupted by the gentlen'ian from Ken-
tucky, I was replying to some of the objections
of tlie gentleman from New York, [IVIr. Fer-
nando Wood,] to this bill. After urging its un-
constitutionality, he said he did not seek to save
the negroes from their masters, but from their
white northern oppressors.

Mr. Fernando "Wood. Before the gentle-
man from Indiana leaves the point of replying
to me, I desire to call his attention to the fact
that my objection waste conferring these home-
steads upon the black laborers, and not upon
the black soldiers. The gentleman has carefully
avoided alludinic to that provision of the bill
which allows laborers to enjoy these homesteads
and not the soldiers.

Mr. Julian. I have no disposition whatever
to evade the fact that this bill ])rovides home-
steads of forty acres for those who have been
employed as laborers in the military service.
But I wish to ask the gentleman from New
York if he is in favor of conferring these lands
as homesteads upon the black soldiers.

Mr. Fernando Wood. I am not, [laughter.]
because the lands do not belong to the Govern-
ment, and hence they cannot confer them.

Mr. Julian. Then I have not misrepresented
the gentleman, and he had no occasion to inter-
rupt me. As respects the inhumanity of our
loyal people toward the freedmen of the South
I agree with him in all he has said; and one of
the chief purposes of this measure is to prevent
the establishment of a remorseless system of
serfdom over the blacks. I know very well
what is being done in Louisiana to-day under
false ideas of reconstruction. I know that a
system of enforced and uncompensated lat)or is
growing up there but one remove from slavery
itself. It is to guard against all this legalized
vassalage and wrong by' the white speculators of
the North and the monopolists of the South that
I desire to see this bill become a law.

Give away these lands in small homesteads to
the men who have earned them l)y their heroism
and their toils; for without a home no man can
have, absolutely, any rights. Land monopoly
IS slavery in disguise. It is a stupendous sys-
tem of serfdom, as unnatural in a republic as
would be the recognition of universal liberty in
an absolute despotism.

I have already referred to the vast estates of
Floyd, Thompson, and other leading rebels, who,
with their confederates own the great body of
the lands in the rebel States. If you seize these
lands and allot them in small homesteads, you
destroy this monopoly and establish indepen-
dence, liberty, and equality on the ruins of the
system which lias ripened into this war. You
establish closely associated communities on
the basis of free labor. You make it possible to
establish free schools and churches, and by
taking awa}- the absolute power of capital over
labor you secure the right to the ballot, and thus
enal)le the people themselves to guard their
political rights. Sir. this question of land mo-
nopoly is the grandest question of this tremend-
ous conflict with the rebels. It involves the
whole problem of reconstruction. If not de-
cided wisely, what wull the President's procla-
mation be worth ? Of what avail would be an
act of Congress totally abolishing slavery, or an
amendment of the Constitution forever prohibit-
ing it, if the old agricultural basis of aristocratic
power shall remain? Real liberty must ever be
an outlaw where one man only in three hundred
or five hundred is an owner of the soil. Let it
be remembered, too, that the work of settle-
ment and reorganization in the revolted States
must necessarily be attended by tumult and
peril. Guerrillas will infest the country, and
perhaps carry on their work of rapine and mur-
der for years to come. Order and security can
only approach their final empire by gradual
steps. Nothing, therefore, can be more entirely
natural and just than to send our veteran sol-
diers into these regions when the war is ended,
with their rifles on their shoulders, ready to de-
fend as well as to cultivate their homesteads, and
protect from wrong and outrage those who may
not be able to help themselves. This policy
would make every settler in these regions, dur-
ing their transition from barbarism to civiliza-
tion, a national policeman and avenger, an effi-
cient arm of that military force which for a
time will be required by the state of the coun-

31

try. Both a military and an agricultural neces-
sity plead for it, while it is commended by the
highest statesmanship, and erai^odies a beautiful
poetic justice to our own soldiers and to the rebels
whose lands shall thus become their righteous
heritage.

Mr. Speaker, let me say in conclusion, to the
gentlemen on the other side of the House who
have seemed so anxious to increase the pay of
our soldiers that this bill gi^es them a capital
opportunity to demonstrate their sincerity.
My colleague, [Mr. Holman,] who I am
sorry to say, is not now in his scat, has
clamored during the whole of this
session for an increased compensation for the
brave fellows who are pei'illing their lives for
the Republic. The gentleman from New York
[Mr. Fernando WoodJ has also been very anxi-
ous on the subject. It seems to be the earnest
desire of our brethren on the other side of the
House to have something done and that speedily
for the common soldier. We have already in-
creased hispay, but our Democratic friends are
not yet satisfied. Now, here is a proposition,
made by a committee of the House, to give all
our sailors and soldiers, black or white, and all
who have served the United States as laborers,
homesteads of forty and eighty acres of land on
the forfeited estates of the rebels. This is pro-
posed as a reward for their valor, and as the
surest pledge of the redemption and regenera-
tion of the insurrectionaiy districts. Sir, I
want to know how these gentlemen are going
to reconcile their votes against this bill with
their declared love for the soldiers of the Union ?

It is a simple proposition to parcel out the

lands of the rebels by extending the homestead
law over them under the regulations of the Gen-
eral Land Office, and in pursuance of existing
laws of Congress on the subject of confiscation
and revenue. It is a proposition to make etlect-
ive, for the benefit of the soldier, what Congress
has already done, and it will at once test the sin-
cerity of every man who professes to be the sol-
dier's friend. I submit to gentlemen upon the
other side of the House that now is the favored
opportunitv, the accepted time, lor them to show
their faith by tbeir works. Not to vote for this
bill, it seems to me, is to vote to continue the
immense monojioly of the soil in the revolted
States without which this rebellion w^ould have
been impossible. Not to vote for this bill is to
vote that northern speculators and monopolists
shall continue to buy up the lands every day
sold by the Government for the non-payment of
taxes, and thus make them the basis of new
and frightful monopolies. Not to vote for this
bill is to wu-ite one's self down the enemy of
the common soldier, Avhose valor has covered
him with glory on so many bloody fields, and
earned for hiin so richly the gratitude of his
country. Not to vote for this bill is to balk
the righteoiis purpose of the nation to save its
own life, and to visit a fitting retribution upoa
its assassins.

Mr. Speaker, I shall not detain the House lon-
ger, having already occupied more time than I
intended. I think the principles of this bill are
understood on both sides of the House, and I
now demand the previous ciuestion ou its pass-
age.

Jtadicalisni and Conservatism — the Truth of Jlistory Vindicated.

sipeech: OIF-

Hon. GEOEGE ^. JULIAN,

Ix THE HOUSE OF KEPRESENTATIVES, Februaky 7th, 18C5.

Tho House being in the Committee of the Whole
on tlie 8t:ite of the Union, and having under
considerutiou the Tresideufs mcs-siige —

Mr. Julian said :

Mr. Chairman: Pcriiaps no task could be
more instruetivo or profitable, in these culmina-
ting days of the rebellion, than a review of the
shifting" phases of thouglit and policy which
have guided the Administration in its endeavors
to crush it. Sucli a retros))eet will help us to
vindicate the real truth of history, both as to
measures and men. It will bring out, in the
strongest colors, tho contrast between radical-
ism and conservatism, as rival political forces,
e;ich maintaining a varying control over the
conduct of the war. It will, at the same time,
point out and emphasize those pregnant lessons
of tlie struggle which may best supply the
Government with counsel in its further i)rose-
cutiou. The faithful performance of this task
demands plainness of speech; and I shall not
shrink from my accustomed use of it, in the in-
terests of truth and freedom.

At the beginning of this war, Mr. Chairman,
neither of the parties to it comprehended its
character and magnitude. Its actual history
has been an immeasurable s^u-prise to both, and
to the whole civilized world. The rebels evi-
dently expected to make short work of it.
Judging us by oar habitual and long-continued
submission to Southern domination, and con-
fiding in the nuiltiplied assurances of sympathy
and help whicii they had received from tlicir
faithful allies in the North, they regarded the
work of dismemberment as neither difficult nor
expensive. They did not dnniin of the grand
results which have proceeded from their mad
enterprise. Nor does their d(!lusion seem to
have been at all strange or unnatural. Cer-
tainly, it was not more remark-able tliaTi the in-
fatuation of the Administration, and its con-
servative friends. The Government understood
the conflict as little, and misunderstood it as
absolutely, as its foes. This, sir, is one of the
lessons of the war which I think it worth while
to have remem])ered. This revolt, it was be-
lieved, was simply a new and enlarged edition
of Southern bluster. The Government did not
realize tlu' inexorable necessity of actnal war,
because it lacked the moral visit n to perceive
tne real nature of the contest. To every sug-
gestion of so dire an event it turned an averted
face and a deaf ear. It ho])(Hl to restore order
by making a show of war, without actually call-
ing into play the terri!)lc enginery of waV. It
trusted in the form, without tlie power of war,
just as some people have trusted in the form,
without the power of godline-s. It will be re-
membered that just before the battle of r>all's
Blufl" General McClellcn ordered Colonel Stone

to "make a slight demonstration against t!.o
rebels," which might " have the effect to drivo
them from Leesburg." The Government seems
to have pursued a like poli(;y in dealing with
the rebellion itself. " A slight demonstration,"
it was believed, Avould '• have the eflect" to ar-
rest the rebels in their madness, and re-estab-
lish order and peace in about "sixty days,"
without allowing them to be seriously hurt, and
without imchaining the tiger of war at all. The
philosophy of General Patterson, who kindly
advised that the war on our part should be
'* conducted on peace i)rinciples," was by no
means out of fashion with our rulers, and thu
conservative leaders of opinion generally. —
Even the Commander-in-Chief of our Army
and Navy scoutiid the idea of putting down tho
rebellion by military power. He thouu'^iit the
country was to be saved by giving up the prin-
ciples it had fairly won by' the ballot in the year
1801), and to the maintenance of which the new
Administratiou was solemnly pledged. He be-
lieved in "conciliation," in "compromise" —
the meanest word in the whole vocabulary of
our politics, except, i)erhaps. the word "con-
ser rativc"— and had far less faith in the help of
bullets and bayonets in managing the rebels
than in the power of our brotherly love to melt
their susceptible hearts, and woo them Itack,
gently and lovingly, to a sense of their tnadness
and tlieir crime. Our distinguished Secretary
of State declared that " none but a despotic or
imperial (rovernmcnt would seek to subjugate
thoroughly disaflected sovereignties." The pol-
icy of coercing the revolted States was disa-
vowed by the Pn^sident himself in his messago
to Congress of July, 18ti1.

Nor "did the legislative department of the
Government, at that time, disagree with tha
executive. On the 22d day of July of the. same
year — and I say it with sorrow and shame— on
the v('ry mornV.g following the first battle of
Bull Run, the House of Representatives, speak-
ing in the form ijf solemn legislative resolves, as
did the Sentite two days later, declared that it
was not the purpose' of the Government to
"subjugate" the villains who began this work
of organized and inexcusable rapine and nuir-
der. "indeed, it was not then the fashion to
call them villains. In the very i)olite and gin-
gerly phrase of the times they were styled
" our misguided fellow-citizens," and "'o\u' er-
ring Soutiiern brethien." while the rebel States
themselves were lovingly referred to as " our
wayward sisters." Tiie truth is, that for about
a yc^u' and a half of this war the poli(;y of ten-
derness to the rebels so swayed the Administra-
tion that it seemed far less intent upon crush-
ing the rebellion by arms, than upon contriving
" iiow not to do it." General ilcClellan. who
so long palsied the cuergies and balked tho

purpose of tlie nation, would not allow an un-
kind word to be uttered in liis presence against
tbe rebel leaders. If an officer or soldier was
beard to speak disrespectfully of tbe great con-
federate cbief, he was suir,marily reprimanded,
wbile the unrivaled reprobate and grandest of
national cut-throats was pronounced a bigh-
souled gentleman and man of honor! Not the
spirit ol war, but the spirit of peace, seemed to
dictate our principles of action and measures
of policy towards the men who bad resolved, at
whatever hazard or sacrifice, to break up the
Government by force. This policy, sir, had it
been continued, would haxe proved the certain
triumph of the rebel cause. With grand armies
in the field, and all the costl.y machinery of war
in our hnnds, our o]iportunities were sinned
away by inactivity and delay, while the rebels
gathered strength from our indecision and
weakness. A major general in our army, and
as brave and patriotic a man as lives, saiil to
me in the early stages of the war that the grand
obstacle to our success was the lack oi resent-
ment on our ])art toward traitors. He said wc
did not adequately hate them; and he tirged me,
if in any degree in my power, to breathe into
the hearts of the people in the loyal States a
spirit of righteous indignation and wrath to-
ward the rebels commensurate with the un-
matched enormity of their deeds. This spirit,
Mr. Chairman, was a military necessity. The
absence of it furnishes the best explanation of
our failure during tbe period referred to, while
its acceptance by the Government inaugurated
the new policy which has ever since been giving
us victories.

That this sickly policy of an inoffensive war
has nattu-ally prolonged the struggle, and
greatly augmented its cost in blood and treas-
ure, no one can doubt. Tbat it belongs, with
its entire legacy of frightful results, exclu-
sively to the conservative element in our poli-
tics, which at first ruled the Government, is
equally certain. The radical men saw at first,
a.s clearly as they see to-daj', tbe character and
spirit of this rebel revolt^ The massacre at
Fort Pillow, the starvation of our soldiers at
Ilic.hmond, and the whole black catalogue of
rebel atrocities, have only been so many veri-
fied predictions of the men who had studied the
institution of slavery, and who regarded the
rebellion as the natural fruit and culmination
of its Christless career. And hence it was that
in the very beginning of the war, radical men
were in favor of its vigorous prosecution . They
knew the foe with whom we had to wresi le. In
language employed on thisfloor more than three
years ago, they knew that "sooner than fail in
their purpose the rebels would light up heaven
itself with the red glare of the pit, and convert
the earth into a carnival of devils." They
knew that " every weapon in the armory of
war must be grasped, and every arrow in our
quiver sped toward the heart of a rebel." They
knew that " all tenderness to such a foe Is
treason to our cause, murder to our people,
faithlessness to the grandest and holiest trust
ever committed to a' free people." They knew
that '' the war should be made just as terrific to
the rebels as possible, consistently with the
laws of war, not as a work of vengeance, but of
mercy, and tlie surest means of our triumph,"
They" knew that in struggling with such a foe
we were shut up to one grand and inevitable
necessity and duty, and tbat was entire and
absolute snhjiif/ation. All this was avowed and
insisted upon by the earnest men who under-
stood the nature of the conflict, and as persist-

ently disavowed and repudiated by tbe Govern
ment and its conservative advisers.

But a lime came wbeii its lessons had to be
unlearned. In tbe school of trial it was forced
to admit that war does not mean peace, but
exactly the oppo.-ite of peace. Slowly, and step
by step, it yielded up its theories and brought
itself face to face with the stern facts of the
crisis. Tbe Government no longer gets fright-
ened at tbe word subjugate, because of its
liberal etymolegy, but is manfully and success-
fully endeavoring' to place the yoke of the Con-
stitution upon tbe unbaptised necks of the
scoundrels who huxe tlirown it otf. The war is
now recognized as a struggle of numliers, of
desperate pbysical violence, ^to be fought out to
the l>itter eml, without stopping to count its
cost in money or in lilood. Both the people
and our armies, under this new dispensation,
have been learning how to bate rebels as Chris-
tian patriots ought to have done from the begin-
ning. They have been learning how to hate
rebel sympathizers also, and to brand them as
even meaner than rebels outright. They re-
gard the open-throated traitor, who stakes his
life, his property, his all, upon tbe success of
his conspiracy against the Constitution and the
rights of man, as a more tolerable character
than the skulking miscreant wlio in his heart
A\ islies the rebellion God-speed, wbile masquer-
ading in tbe hypocritical disguise of loyalty.
Had the Government been animated by a like
spirit at the beginning of the outbreak, practi-
cally accepting the truth that there can be no
middle ground between treason and loyalty,
rebel sympathizers would have given the
country far less trouble than they have done.
A little wholesome severity, summarily ad-
ministered, would have been a most sovereign
panacea. On this point the people were in ad-
vance of tbe Administration, and they are to-
day. Their earnestness has not yet found a
complete and authoritative expression in the
action of the Government. A system of retalia-
tion, which would have been a measure of real
mercy, has not been adopted. Our cause is not
wholiy rescued from the control of conservative
politicians and generals. Much remains to be
done; but far more, certainly, has already been
accomi)lisbed. The times of brotherly love
towards rebels in arms have gone by forever.
Such men as McClellan, Buell, and "Fitz John
Porter, are generally out of the way, and men
who believe in fi/jkiing rebels ai-'e in active
command. This revolution ui the war policy of
the Government, as already observed, was "ab-
solutely necessary to the salvation of our cause;
and th? country will not soon forget those
earnest men who at first coinpreheiuled the
crisis and the duty, and persistently urged a
vigorous policy, suited to remorseless' andrevo-
lutionary violence, till the Government felt con-
strained to embrace it.

But a vigorous prosecution of the war, Mr.
Chairman, was not enough. While this strug-
gle is one of numbers and of violence, it is like-
wise, and still more emphatically, a war of
ideas; a conflict between two forms of civiliza-
tion, each wrestling for tbe mastery of the
country, No one now pretends to dispute this,
nor is it easy to understand how any one could
ever have failed to perceive it. But tbe Gov-
ernment, in the beginning, did not believe it
It tried, with all its might, not to believe it, and
to persuade the world to disbelieve it. It in-
sisted that the real cause of the war did not
cause it at all. The rebellion was the work of
chance; a stupendous accident, leaping into

34

life full-grown, without father or mother, with-
out any disfoverable genesis. It was a huge,
black, portentous, national riot, which must be
suppressed, but nobody was to l)e allowed to
say one word about the causes which produced
it, or the issues involved in the struggle. Si-
lence was to be our supreme wisdoui. Hence
it was that the Government, speaking tluough
Its higli functionaries, declared that the slavery
question was not involved in the quarrel, and
that every slave in Ixindagc would remain in
exactly the same condition after the war as be-
fore. Hence it was that, when a celebrated
proelamatiim was issued, giving freedom to
slaves of rebels in Missouri, it was revoked by
the Government in order to please the State of
Kentucky, and placate the power that began
the war. Hence, under General Halleck's
" Order No. 3," which remained in fouu; more
than a year, the swarms of contrabands who
came thronging to our lines, tendering us the
use of their muscles and the secrets of the rebel
prison-house, were driven away by our com-
manders. Hence it was that our soldiers were
compelled to serve as slave-hounds in chasing
down fugitives and sending them back to rebel
masters, and that General McClellan, who al-
ways loved slavery more than he loved his
country, and who declared he would put down
slave insurrections "'with an iron hand,"' was
continued as commander-in-chief of our armies
long mouths after the country desired to spew
him out. Hence, likewise, so many thousands
of our soldiers were compelled to dig and ditch
in the swamps of the Chiekahominy till the cold
sweat of death gathered on the handle of the
spade, while swarms of stalwart negroes, able
to relieve them and eager to do so, were denied
the privilege, lest it should otTend the nostrils
of democratic gentility, and give aid and com-
fort to the Abolitionists. Hence it was that the
President, instead of striking at slavery as a
military necessity, and Avhile rebuking that
policy in his dealings with Hunter and Fre-
mont, was at the same time so earnestly espous-
ing chimerical proiects for the colonization of
negroes, couplcLl ^\•iththe policy of gradual and
compensated emancipation, which should take
place sometime before the year 1900, if the slave-
holders should be willing. Hence it was that
very soon after the Administration had been
installed in power it began to lose sight of the
principles on which it had triumphed in 18130,
allowing four-fifths of the offices of the army
and navy to be held by men of known hostility
to those principles, while the various depart-
ments of the Government in this city were
largely filled by rebel sympathizers. Hence it
■was that for nearly two" years of this war the
Government, while smiting the rebels with one
hand, was with the other guarding the slave
property and protecting the constitutional rights
of the men who had renounced the Constitution,
and ceased to have any rights under it save the
right to its peiudty against traitors. Hence it
was that during tlie greater part of this time the
Administration stood upon the jilatform and
urged the policy of "the Constitution as it is
and the Union as it was,'' whicli the nation so
overwhelming repudiated in the late presiden-
tial contest. Hence it was finally, that the
songs of Whittier could not be sung in our
armies; that slavery Avas everywhere dealt with
by the Government as the dear cliild of its love;
and that our rulers seemed, with matchless
impiety, to hope for the favor of God without
laying hpld of the conscience of our quarrel,
aiul by coolly kicking it out of doors! Sir, I
believe it safe to say that this madness cost the

nation the precious sacrifice of fifty thousand
soldiers, who have gone up to the throne of God
as witnesses against the horrid infatuation that
so long shaped tlie policy of the Government in
resisting this slaveholders' rebellion.

l!ut here, again, Mr. Chairman, the Govern-
ment had to unlearn its first lessons. Its pur-
pose to crush the rebellion and spare slavery
was found to be utterly suicidal to our cause.
It was a purpose to accomplish a moral impos-
sibility, and was therefore prosecuted, il not
conceived, in the interest of the rebels. It was
an attempt to marry treason and loyalty; for
the rebellion is slavery, armed with the i)owera
of war, organized for wholesale schemes of ag-
gression, and animated by the overfiowing full-
ness of its infernal genius. The strength of our
cause lies in its righteousness, and therefore no
bargain with the" devil could possibly give it
aid. Through great sutfering and sacrafice,
individual and national, our rulers learned that
there is but " one strong thing here below, the
just thing, the true thing," and that God would
not allow these severed States to be re-united
without the abandonment, forever, of our great
national sin. This was a difiicult lesson, but as
it was gradually mastered, the Government
"changed its base." It became disenchanted.
Congress took the lead in ushering in the new
dispensation. A new Article of War was en-
acted, forbidding our armies from returning
fugitive slaves. Slavery was abolished in the
District of Columbia, and prohibited in our
national Territories, where it had been planted
by the dogma of popular sovereignty and the
Dred Scott decision. Our Federal judiciary
was so reorganized as to make sure this anti-
slavery legislation of Congress. The confisca-
tion of slaves was provided for, and freedom
oflered to all who would come over and help us,
either as laborers or soldiers, thus annulling the
famous and infamous order of General Halleck,
already referred to. The fugitive slav e law was
at first made void as to the slaves of rebels, and
finally repealed altogether, with the old law of
179o. The coastwise slave trade, a frii^htful
system of home piracy, carried on by authority
of Congress since the year 1807, was totally
abolished. The right of testimony in our
Federal courts, and to sue and be sued, was
conferred upon negroes. Their employment as
soldiers was at last systematically provided for,
and their pay at length made the same as tliat
of white soldiers. The independence of Hayti
and Liberia was recognized, and new measures
taken to put an end to the African slave trade.
In thus wiping out our code of national slave
laws, acknowledging the manhood of the negro,
and recognizing slavery as the enemy of oiu:
peace. Congress emphatically rebuked the policy
which had sought to ignore "it, and to shield it
from the destructive hand of the war instigated
by itself; while it opened the way for furtlier
and inevitable measures of justice, looking to his
complete emancipation from tlie dominion of
Anglo-Saxon prejudice, the repeal of all special
legislation inteiuled for his injury, and his reso-
lute restoration to equal rights with the white
man as a citizen as well as a soldi(>r.

Meanwhile, the President had been giving
the subject his sober second thought, and re-
considering his position at tin* beginning of the
conflict. Instead of afiirming, as at first, that
tlie (luestion of slavery was not involved in tlie
strugirle, he gradually perceived and finally
admitted that it was at once the cause of the war
ami tlie obstacle to peace. Instead of resolving
to save the Union xoith slavery, he finally re-
solved to save the Union without it, and by its

35

destruction. Instead of entertniniug the country
with projects of gnidual and distant emancipa-
tion, conditioned upon compensation to the
master and colonization of the freedmen, lie
himself linally launched the policj'^ of immediate
and unconditional liberation. Instead of re-
coiling from " radical and extreme measures,"
and " a remorseless revolutionary conflict," he
at last marched up to the full height of tJie
national emergency, and proclaimed "to all
whom it may concern," that slavery must
perish. lustead of a constitutional amendment
for the purpose of eternizing the institution in
the Eepublic, indorsed by him in his inaugural
message, he became the zealous advocate of a
constitutional amendment aljolishingit forever.
Instead of committing the fortunes of the war
to pro-slavery commanders, whose hearts were
not in the work, he learned how to dispense
with their services, and find the proper substi-
tutes. These forward movements were not
ventured upon hastily, hut after much hesita-
tion and apparent reluctance. Not suddenly,
but following great deliberation and many mis-
givings, he issued his proclamation of freedom.
Months afterward he doubte i its wisdom; but
it was a grand step forward, which at once
served his relations with his old conservative
friends, and liuked his fortunes thenceforward
to those of the men of ideas and of progress.
Going hand in hand with Congress inthe great
advance measures referred to, or acquiescing in
their adoption, the whole policy of the Adminis-
tration has been revolutionized. Abolitionism
and loyalty are now accepted as convertible
terms, and so are treason and slavery. Our
covenant with death is annulled. Ovir national
partnership with Satan has been dissolved; and
just in proportion as this has been done, and an
alliance sought with divine Providence, has the
cause of our country prospered. In a word,
Eadicalism has saved our nation from the
IDolitical damnation and ruin to which conser-
vatism would certainly have consigned it;
while the mistakes and failures of the Adminis-
tration stand confessed in its new policy, which
alone can vindicate its wisdom, command the
respect and gratitude of the people, and save it
from humiliation and disgrace.

Mr. Chairman, these lessons of the past sug-
gest the true moral of tliis great conflict, and
make the way of tlie future jjlain. They de-
mand a vigorous prosecution of the war by all
the powers of war, and that the last vestige of
slavery shall be scourged out of life. Let the
Administration falter on cither of these points
and the people will disown its policy. They
have not chosen the President for another term
through any secondary or merely personal con-
siderations. In the presence of so grand an
issue, men were nothing. They had no faith in
General McClellan and the party leaders at his
heels. They had little faith in the early policy
of Mr. Lincoln, when Democratic ideas ruled
his Administration, and the power of slavery
held him in its grasp. Had his appeal to the
people been made two years earlier, he would
have been as overv\^helmingly rcpi'diated as he
has been gloriously indorsed. I^he i)Cople sus-
tain him now, because of their assured faith
that he will not hesitate to execute their will.
In voting for him for a second time, they voted
for liberating and arming the slaves of the South
to crush out a slaveholders' rebellion. They
voted that the Republic shall live, and that
whatever is necessary to save its life shall be
done. They voted that slavery shall be eter-
nally doomed, and further rebellions thus made
impossible. They voted, not that Abraham Lin-

coln can save the country, but that they can
save il , with him as their servant. That is what
was decided in the late elections. I have par-
ticipated, somewhat actively, in seven presi-
dential contests, and I remember none in which
the element of personal enthusiasm had a
smaller share than that of last November. One
grand and overmastering resolve filled the
hearts and swayed the purposes of the masses
everywhere, and that was the rescue of the
country through the defeat of the Chicago plat-
form and conspirators. In the execution of
that resolve they lost sight of everything else;
but should the President now place himself in
the people's way, by i-eviving the old policy of
tendesness to the rebels and their beloved insti-
tution, the loyal men of the country will aban-
don his policy as decidedly as they have sup-
ported it generously. They have not approved
the mistakes either of the leglstive or execu-
tive department of the Government. Tliey ex-
pect that Congress will pass a bill for the con-
fiscation of the fee of rebel landholders, and
they expect the President will approve it.
They expect that Congress will provide for
the reconstruction of the rebel States by syste-
matic legislation, which shall guarantee re-
publican governments to each of those States,
and the complete enfranchisement of the
negro; and they will not approve, as they
have not approved of any executive inter-
ference with the people's will as deliberately
expressed by Congress. They expect that
Congress will provide for parceling out the
forfeited and confiscated lands of rebels in
small homesteads among the soldiers and
seamen of the war, as a fit reward for their
valor, and a security against their ruinous mo-
nopoly of the soil in the South; and they will
be disappointed should this great measure fail
through the default either of Congress or the
Executive. They demand a system of just re-
taliation against the rebels for outrages com-
mitted upon our prisoners; that a policy of
increasing earnestness and vigor shall prevail
till the war shall be ended; and that no hope
of peace shall be whispered, save on condition
of an absolute and vinconditional surrender to
our authority; and the Government will only
prolong the war by standing in the way of these
demands. This is emphatically the people's
war; and it will not any longer suffice to say
that the people are not ready for all necessary-
measures of success. The people would have
been ready for such measures from the begin-
ning, if the Governmedt had lead the way. At
every stage of the contest they have hailed with
joy evej y eai-nest man who came forward, and
every vigorous war measure that has been pro-
posed. So long as the war was conducted
under the counsels of conservatives, and in tne
interests of slavery, the people clamored against
the Administration; but just so soon as the
Government entered upon a vigorous policy, and
pi'oclaimcd war against slavery, the people be-
gun to shout for the Union and liberty. In the
ifall of 1SG2, before the Administration was
divorced from its early policy, the Union party
was overwhelmed at the polls. Eut we tri
umphed the next year, and gloriously triumphed
last year, because the Government yielded to
the popular demand. The plea often urged that
the people were not ready, is less a fact than a
pretext. The men who loved slavery more than
they loved the Union were never ready for
radical measures. They are not ready to-day.
On the other hand, the men who were all the
while unconditionally for the Union, would
have sustained the Administration far more

36

lieartily in the most thorouuli and swocpinjr
war nicasuro:*, than they sustained its policy of
delaying tho^^e measures to the last hour.

The truth is, the people have stood l)y the
Government for the sake of the cause, whether
its policy pleased them or not. Their faith and
patience have been singularly unllincliing
throughout the entire struggle, 'i'hev would
not distrust the Tresident without the slrongest
reasons. They were ever ready to credit him
•\vitli good intentions, and to i)resume in favor
of his superior means of knowledge. "When
General i'remont was recalled from Missouri,
and General Eutler from New Orleans, the
people pocketed their deep disappointment, and
quietly acquiesced. When General lUiell was
kej)t in command so long after his ineUiciency
IkuI been demonstrated and his loyalty cpies-
tioned, both by the country and tUeinen under
Jiis conuuaud, the people bore it with uncom-
raion patience and long-suttering. They dis-
.-wLaycd the same virtues in the case of General
•McClelUm, and othor rebel sympathizers, who
:foK.ud favor Avith the Administration long after
"* the <r-,ountry would have sent them adrift. Sir,
this feeling of unconf(uerable respect for our
choseia rulers, this Anglo-Saxon regard for con-
etitutetl authority, has been evinced by the
people through all the phases of the war. Most
■a.ssure«Uy it would not have been found want-
ing had .ti:ie Government inaugurated a radical
jQolicy, instead of a conservative one, during the
lirst year and a half of the struggle, "The
people who endured McClellan, and Ikiell, and
Halleck, would have endured Fremont, and
Hunter, and Butler. If the conservative Union-
ists of Kentucky were not ready for the procla-
mation of freedom to the slaves of JMissouri
rebels, tliere were millions of people outside of
-Kentucky who were not ready to have it re-
voked. I agree that slavery had done much to
drug the conscience of the country with its in-
sidious poison. I know that we had so long
made our bed W'lth slaveholders (hat kicking
tJiem out was ratiier an awkward business'.
As brethren, living under a common Govern-
ment, we had long journeyed together, and our
habits and traditions naturally took the form
of obstacles to a just policy in dealing with
them as rebels and public enemies. It was by
no means easy at once to recognize them as
such. All this is granted, and that in the be-
ginning the country was not prepared for every
radical measure of legisilation and war now
being employed by the Government. But it
was the duty of the Administration to do its
part in preparing the couctry. Clothed Avitli
solemn official authority, and intrusted by the
nation with the sworn duty .of serving it in such
a crisis, it had no right to become thie foot-ball
of events. It had no right, at such a time, to
make itself, a negative expression, or an un-
known quantity, in the algebra, which was to
-work out the grand problem. It liad no right
to take shelter beneath a debauched and sickly
public sentiment, and plead it in bar of the
great duty imposed upon it by the crisis. It
had no right, certainly, to lag behind that sen-
timent, to magnify its extent and potency, and
to become its virtual ally, instead of enileavor-
iug to control it, and to indoctrinate the
■country with ideas suited to the emergency.
The power of the Government in molding the
general opinion and feeling was immense, and
Its responsibility must be measiu'cd accordingly.
The revocation of the first anti-slavery procla-
mation of this war chilled the heart "of every
earnest loyaiist iu the land, and came like a
rumpet-call to the pro-slavery hosts to rally

and stand together. They obeyed it, and ffom
that event dates the birth of organized copper-
head democracy. The rebels of the South and
their sympathizers in the North felt that they
had gained an ally in the rresident. Had lie
sustained that measure, would not its moral
ed'cct have been at least as potent on the other
side? Had his ollicial name and sanction been
as often given to Ihe cause of radicalism as
they were lent to that of pro-slavery conserva-
tism would not the country have been much
sooner prei)ared for the saving and only policy?
If he had said, early iu the struggle^ " to all
whom it may concern," what he says now, that
slavery is the nation's enemy, and therefore
nuist be destroyed, instead of sheltering it
luider the Constitution and sparing it from the
hand of war, how grandly could he have
" organized victory" and multiplied himself
among the people! Sir, our traditionary re-
spect fo- slavery and slaveholders was our
grand peril. It stood up as an imi)assible
barrier in the way of any siiccessful war for
the Union. So long as it was allowed to domi-
nate, it luinerved the arm of the Government
and deadened tin; spirit of the people. It made
the Old World our enemy, and threatened us
with foreign war. The mission of the Govern-
ment was not to make this feeling stronger by
defeiTing to it, or to dloom the country to a
prolonged war and deplorable sacrifices as the
best means of teaching the peojde the truth.
No. The coiuitry needed a speedy exodus from
the bondage of false ideas, and the Government
should have pointed the way. A frank state-
ment by it of the real issue of the war, without
any disposition to cover up the truth; an un-
mistakable hostility to slavery as the organized
curse, without which the rebellion would have
been impossible; and the timely utterance in its
leading State papers of a few bold and spirit-
stirring words which might have been "half
battles," appealing to the courage and manhood
of the nation, woidd have gone far to educate
the judgment and conscience of the people, and
command their enthusiastic espousal of what-
ever measures would promise most speedily to
end the struggle and economize its cost in pro-
perty and life.

Mr. Chairman, I take no pleasure, certainly,
in thus freely discussing the policy of the Gov-
ernment in its endeavors to meet its great re-
sponsibilities during this war. I have only
referred to its mistakes as a servant of the
truth, and in the name of the great cause which
has been made to sutler. I believe, religiously,
in the freedom of speech. From the beginning
of the war I have exercised the right of frank,
friendly, and fearless criticism of the conduct
of our rulers, wherever I believed them to have
been in tiie wrong. I shall continue to exercise
it to the end; and if I should not, through a,uy
])ersonal or prudential considerations, I would
lie unworthy of the seat I have occupied on this
floor. Criticism has dictated the present policy
of the Government, and is still a duty. This
great battle for the rights of man. and the
actors in it, must be judged. Nr ne of them can
"escape history." The fame of none of them is
so i)recious as the truth, and as public justice,
which cares for the dead as well as the living,
for the common soldiers slain by thousands, afl
well as for the general and the statesman. The
President, his advisers, his commanding gene-
rals, and the civilians whose shaping hands
have had so much to do with the conduct of the
war, must all of them be weighed in the bal-
ance bj' the people and the generations to come.
"The great soul of the world is just," and

37

sooner or later all disguises will be thrown off,
and every historical character will stand forth
as he is, in the light of his deeds and deserts.
The men who have been intrusted with the
concerns of the nation in this momentous crisis
will not he judged harshly. Much will be for-
given or excused on the score of the surpassing
magnitude and difficulty of their work. Justice
will be done; but that justice may brand as a
crime, the blunders proceeding from a feeble,
timid, ambidextrous policy, resulting in great
sacralices of life and treasure, and periling the
pi'iceless interests at stake. 1 would award all
due honor to this Administration, and to the
statesmen and generals who have been faithful
to their high trusts; but I woidd award an
equal honor to the rank and file of the people,
who have inspired its present policy, and to the
rank and tile of o\u- soldiers, who have saved
tlie country in spite of the mistakes of the
Government, the strifes of our i)oliticians, and
the rivalries of our generals. These are the
real hi'i-oes of the war. Untitled, practically
unrewarded, facing everj' form of privation and
danger, and animated by the purest patriotism,
the common soldier is not only the true hero of
the war, but the real saviour of his country.

But a higher honor, if not a more enduring
fame, will be the heritage of the anti-slavery
pioneers and prophets of bur laud; for

" Peace hath hiorber tests of manhood
Than battle ever knew."

Without their heroic labors and sacrifices the
Republic, " heirs of all the ages," would have
been the mightiest slave empire of the world.
In an age of practical atheism and mammon-
worship, when the Church and the State joined
hands with slavery as the new trinity of the
nation's faith, they really believed in God, in
justice, in the resistless might of the truth.
They believed that liberty is the birthright of
all men, and their grand mission was the prac-
tical vindication of this truth. They believed,
with their whole hearts, in the Declaration of
Independence. They accepted its teachings as
concident with the Gospel of Christ, and sup-
ported by reason and justice. It was their
ceaseless " battle-cry of freedom," and they
chanted it as "the fresh, the matin song of the
universe," to the enslaved of all races and
lands. They were branded as fanatics and in-
fidels, and encountered everywhere the hoot-
ings of the multitude and the scorn of politi-
cians and priests; but I know of no class of
men who were ever more far-sighted, whose
coinvictions rested on so broad a basis of Chris-
tian morals and logic, and whose religious trust
was so strong and so steadfast. For them there
was no '• eclipse of faith." Just as the nation
began to lapse from the grand ideas of our re-
volutionary era, they began to " cry aloud and
gpare not," and tliey never ceased or slackened
their labors. Placing their ears to the ground
in the infancy and weakness of their movement,
they cauffht the rumbling thunders of civil war
iu "the distance, warned the country of its

danger, and preached repentance as the chosen
and only means of escape. They were compelled
to face mobs, violence, persecution, and death,
and were always misunderstood or misrepre-
sented; but they never faltered. Reputation,
honors, property, worldly ease, were all freely
laid upon the altar of duty, in their resolve to
vindicate the rights of man and the freedom of
speech. To follow these ai>ostles and martyrs
was to forsake all the prizes of life which
worldly prudence or ambition could value or
covet. It was to take up the heaviest cross yet
fashioned by this century as the test of Christian
character and heroism; aiid those who bore it
were far braver spirits than the men who fight
our battles on land and sea.

Mr. Chairman, the failure of men thus de-
voted to a great aiul holy cause was morally
impossible. They could not fail. Throu.gh
their courage, constancy, and faith, they gradu-
ally seciu'cd the co-operation or sympathy of
the better type of men of all parties and creeds.
They seriously disturbed, or broke in pieces,
the great political and ecclesiastical organiza-
tions of the land; and even before this war their
ideas were rapidly taking captive the popular
heart. When it came, they saw, as by intuition,
the character of the struggle, as the final phase
of slaveholding madness and crime, and insisted
upon the early adoption of that radical policy
which the Government at last was compelled t'o
accept. I believe it safe to say that the moral
appeals and persistent criticism of these men,
auLl of the far greater numbers who borrowed
or sympathised with their views, saved our
cause from the complete control of conserva-
tism, and thus saved the country itself from
destruction. Going at once to the heart of our
great conflict, they pointed out the only remedy,
and felt compelled to reprobato the "failure of
the Government to adopt it. They judged its
!)olicy in war, as they had done in peace, in the
light of its fidelity or infidelity to human rights.
By this test they tried every man and party,
and they need ask for no other rule of judg-
ment for themselves. The Administration, and
the chief actors in this drama of war, of whatever
political school, must be weighed in the sarne
great balance. fTot even the founders of the
Repvdjlic will be spared from the trial. In
their compromise with slavery in the begin-
ning, which is now seen to have been the germ
of this horrid conflict, they "swerved from the
right." Posterity must so pronounce; and the
record which dims the luster of their great
names will be read in the flames of this war as
a warning against all future compacts Avith
evil. Justice to public men is a certain as that
truth is omnipotent. It may be delayd for a
season; it may be hidden from the vision of
men of little faith; but its final triumph is sure.
To the world's true heroes and confessors historj-
ever sends its word of cheer:

"Thp good can wf41 nfford to wait ;

Give erinined knaves their hour of crime ; .
Ye have the future, grand find great,
The safe appeal of truth to time."

Suffrage in the District of Columhia,

sipeeoxh: oih^

Hon. GEORGE ^Y. JTJLlAIsr,

In the house OF EEPRESENTATIVES, Janury ICxn, 1SG6.

The House having under consideration the
bill extending the right of suffrage in tlie
District of Columbia —
Mr. Julian said:

Mr. Speaker : "Whatever doubts may arise
as to the authority of Congress to regulate the
right of suffrage in the disti-icts lately in re-
volt, none can exist as to such authority v,dthin
the District of Columbia. By the express words
of the Constitution, Congress here has " ex-
clusive power of legislation ;" and that power,
of course, extends to all the legitimate sub-
jects of legislation, of which the ballot is un-
questionably one. Shall it be conferred, irre-
spective of color, or granted only to white
men ? Shall Congress recognize the equal
rights of all men in the metropolis of the nation
and the territory under its exclusive control,
or must our national policy still be inspired
by that contempt for the negro which caused
slavery, and finally gave birth to the horrid
war from which we have just emerged ? Shall
the nation, through its chosen servants, stand
by the principle of taxation and representa-
tion for which our fathers fought in the begin-
ning, or re-enact its guilty compact with
aristocracy and caste ? This is the question,
variously stated, which confronts us in the
bill before the House. It must now be dealt
■with upon its merits. To attempt to postpone
or evade it is to trifle with the dangers and
duties of the hour, and forget all the terrible
lessons of the past.

Mr. Speaker, I demand the ballot for the
colored men of this District on the broad
ground of absolute right. I repudiate the
political philosophy which treats the right of
suffrage as merely conventional. The right of
a man to a voice in the Government which
deals with his liberty, his property, and his
life, is as natural, as inborn, as any one of
those enumerated by our fathers. It is said,
I know, that natural rights are only those
universal ones which exist in a state of nature,
in which every man takes his defense and
protection into his own hands; but I ansvver
that there is no sucli state of nature, save in
the dreams of speculative writers. The natu-
ral state of man is a state of society, which
demands law, govern incut, as the condition of
its life. By the right of suffrage I mean the
right to a share in the governing power; and
while the peculiar manner and circumstances

of its exercise may fairly be regarded as con-
ventional, the right is natural. If not, then
there are no natural rights, since none could
be enjoyed except by the favor or grace of the
Government, which must decide for itself who
shall be permitted to share in its exercise.
You may, if you choose, call the right of suf-
frage a natural social right; but whatever
adjectives you employ in your delinition, the
right, I insist, is natural. Most certainly it
is so in its primary sense. My friend from
Iowa [Mr. Wilson] substantially agrees with
me, for he speaks of suffrage, not ns&jiricilege,
but as a right, equally sacred with those ac-
knowledged to be natural, and which Govern-
ment cannot take away. Sir, without the
ballot no man is really free, because if he
enjoys freedom it is by i\\Q permission of those
who govern, and not in virtue of his own
recognized manhood. We talk about the
natural right of all men to life, to liberty, and
to the pursuit of happiness ; but if one race of
men can rightfully disfranchise another, and
govern them at will, what becomes of their
natural rights ? The moment you admit such
a principle, the very idea of democracy is re-
nounced, and absolutism must own you as its
disciple. The fact that society, through Gov-
ernment as its agent, regulates the right, and
withholds it in certain instances, as in the
case of infants and idiots, and makes the
withdrawal of it a punishment for crime in
others, docs not at all contravene the ground
I assume. Society, for its own protection,
takes away all natural riglits, or rather, it de-
clares them forfeited on certain prescribed
conditions. Christianity and civilization place
their brand upon slavery as a violation of the
natural rights of men. But that system of
personal servitude from which we have final-
ly been delivered is only one type of slavery.
Serfdom is another. That unnatural owner-
ship of labor by capital which grinds the toil-
ing millions of the Old World, and renders
life itself a curse, is not loss at war with natu-
ral rights than negro slavery. The degrees
of slavery may varj', but the real teat of free-
dom is the right to a share in the governing
power. Judge Humphrej', speaking of the
freedmen, says "there is really no difference,
in my opinion, whether we hold them as
absolute slaves, or obtain their labor by some
other method.'"' The old slaveholders under-

39

stand this perfectly. An intelligent human
being, absolutely subject to the Government
under which he lives, answerable to it in his
person and property for disobedience, and yet
denied any political rights whatever, is a
slave. He may not wear the collar of any
single owner, but he will be what Carl Schurz
aptly calls "the slave of society," which is
often a less merciful tyrant ! He will owe to
the mere grace of the Government the right
to marry and rear a family ; the right to sue
for any grievance ; the right to own a home
in the wide world ; the right to the means of
acquiring knowledge ; the right of free loco-
motion and to pursue his own happiness ; the
right to a fair day's wages for a fair day's
work; the right to life itself, save on condi-
tions to be fixed without his consent, and
which may render him an alien and an out-
cast among men. So abject and humiliating
is such a condition, and so perfectly does the
world understand the sacredness of the rights
of the citizen, that in all free Governments
his disfranchisement is appropriately made a
part of the punishment for high crimes. Sir,
I repeat it, theie is no freedom, no security
against wrong and outrage, save in the ballot;
and Gov. Brownlow is therefore thoroughly
right in principle, in contending that the con-
stitutional amendment abolishing slavery, and
giving Congress the power, by appropriate
legislation, to enforce this abolition, author-
izes us to secure the ballot to all men in the
revolted districts, iri'espective of color. It is
not slavery in form, but in ftict, and under
whatever name, that the people of the United
States intend to have abolished forever.

If I am right in this view, color has nothing
whatever to do with the question of suffrage,
as the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Kasson]
will see. The negro should not be disfran-
chised because he is black, nor the white man
allowed to vote because he is white. Both
should have the ballot, because they are men
and citizens, and require it for their protection.
Are you willing to rest your right to the bal-
lot on the purely contingent fact of your
color ? Your manhood tells you instantly
that t?iat is not the foundation. Tou are a
man, endowed with all the rights of a man,
and therefore 3'ou demand a voice in the
Government ; but when you say this you as-
sert the equal rights of the negro. Neither
color, nor race, nor a certain amount of pro-
perty,nor any other mere accident of humanity
can justify one portion of the people in strip-
ping another portion of their equal rights be-
fore the law, the common master over all. Gov-
ernment, in fact, in its proper, American
sense, is simply the agent and representative
of the governed, in taking care of their inter-
ests and guarding their rights. It is not the
concern of the few, nor the many, but of all.
The negro, doubtless, would have been born
white if he could have been consulted ; and
to take from him his inherent rights as a man
because of his complexion is a political absur-
dity as monstrous as its injustice is mean and
revolting. When you do it, you aim n dead-

ly stab at the vital principle of all democracy.
And if you may disfranchise the negro to-day
on account of his race, or color, j'ou may dis-
franchise the Irishman to-morrow, and the
German the next day; and then, perhaps, you
will be prepared to strike down the laboring
man, the "mudsill," adopting the Virginia
philosophy, that " filthy operatives" and
"greasy mechanics" are unfit for political
power. Ko absurdity or wickedness can be
too great for a people who could thus deliber,
ately sin against the great primal truths of
democracy ; and the logical consequence of
the first false step, of any departure whatever
from the rule which makes manhood alone
the test of right, must be to continually nar-
row the basis of popular power till the end
shall be a remorseless aristocracy or an abso-
lute despotism.

Mr. Speaker, this view of suffrage as a nat-
ural right greatly simplifies the whole subject.
The sole question is, as already stated, wheth-
er our democratic theorjr of Government shall
be maintained in practically recognizing the
inherent rights of all men as the source and
basis of political power ? To ask this ques-
tion in the United States is to answer it. And
public policy, also, answers the question in the
interest of the broadest radicalism. Duty and
advantage will be found hand in hand in any
fairly tested experiment of equal suflYage.
According to the census returns of 1860, the
colored population of this District was then
over fourteen thousand. It is novv^ estimated
at about twenty thousand. The value of real
and pei-sonal property owned by them is at
least $1, 225, 000. They own twenty-one
churches, supported at a cost of over §20,000
per annum. The whole number of their com-
municants is 4,300, with an average attend-
ance of 9,000, distributed among their own re-
ligious communities, and among the Catholic
and Episcopal churches of their white fellow-
citizens. They have twenty Sabbath schools,
with from three to four thousand scholars, and
thirtj'-threo day schools, attended by over
four thousand scholars in the month of last
November. Four thousand of the colored
people can read and write. They subscribe
for 1,200 copies of the National Eepublican,
and about 3,000 copies of the Daily and Sun-
day Chronicle. There are more than thirty
benevolent, literarj-, and civic organizations
among them, by which their needy, superan-
nuated and infirm are cared for to "a large ex-
tent, the city government having none or
very few colored paupers to support. They
furnished three full regiments for the national
service, numbering in all 3,549, and from six-
ty to seventy per cent, of the drafts in the
District were composed of drafted colored
soldiers or substitutes. This, sir, is the char-
acter and condition of a class in this commu-
nity, ninety per cent, of whom were slaves at
the beginning of the war, or their immediate
descendants, many of them having purchased
their ov.-n freedom and that of their fomilies,
and are besides property holders to a consid-
erable extent. Sir, I call this a good record

40

if not a proud one. These people are here,
and they will remain here, either as the friends
or the enemies of the Government. If we
5-hall give them their rights — a stake in soci-
ety, an equal chance with the white man to
fight the battle of life — instead of becoming
an element of woukness and a source of dan-
ger they will be found our allies and friends,
and thus lend unity and strength to the Gov-
ernment. If we shall continue to di.^'franchise
and degrade them, we shall make them aliens,
domestic foes in our midst, a perpetual men-
ace of danger and discord, from which we
shall suffer quite as much as the party thus
wronged by our cruel folly. As a matter of
mere policy, therefore, wholly aside from the
question of right, I would give the ballot to
every colored man of competent age in the
District; and had I the power I would secure
to him a home on the soil he has so lomg
watered by his tears. I proposed this policy
for the revolted States in a measure I had the
honor to report to this House two years ago,
providing for homesteads on the forfeited and
confiscated lands of rebels ; and had it prevail-
ed in the Senate as it did in this body, it
would have wrought out the only true recon-
struction of government and society in the
South. The great want of every poor man is
a home, along with the ballot with which to
defend it. Kussia, in giving freedom to her
millions of serfs, secured to each of them a
homestead. Our policy should be the same.
In the history of the world the ballot has gen-
erally followed the granting of homesteads to
the poor; but the poor now should have the
ballot as the surest means of attaining the
homestead. Sir, there is but one remedy for
the appalling picture recently presented by
John Bright, of live million families in the
ITnited Kingdom who are unrepresented in
Parliament, and whose utter helplessness, pov-
erty and degradation appeal in vain to the
English aristocracy. Tiiat remedy, as right-
eously due these voiceless millions as the sun-
light, is the ballot. That would " bend the
powers of statesmanship to the high and holy
purposes of humanity and justice," and at last
make sure to the lowliest the blessed sanctu-
ary of a home upon the soil, which is among
the natural rights to secure which " Govern-
ments are instituted among men." In our
own more favored country the ballot and the
homestead may go together, and should be
conferred at once. In the live great landed
States of the South there j'et remain about
fifty million acres of public land unsold, all of
which, if not prevented by law, will be open
to rebel speculators. This should be set apart
at once for actual homesteads in limited quan-
tities, and a bill providing for this is now be-
fore the Committee on Public Lands. Every
landless freedman in the country, should this
measure prevail, will have at least a clianco
to become a freeholder, and thus to unite his
destiny to the GoviM-nment as its friend.
Tills, or some kindred measure, is rondored
absolutely necessary by the unfortunate fail-
ure of the policy of ooufiscation, and by what

seems to mo the criminal action of the Gov-
ernment in restoring to flagitious rebels,
through pardons and otherwise, the vast and
valuable lands which had vested in the nation
through their treason, and are so greatly need-
ed and have been so justly earned by the
frcedmon. Sir, no other policy than that of
justice and equal rights can be trusted in deal-
ing with these long-suffering people. Instead
of driving them to thriftlcssncss and vaga-
bondism, I would bind them to the Govern-
ment through its parental care for their wel-
fare. Let us give them the ballot ; and then,
should a public grievance come, they will bear
it cheerfully, as self-imposed. They will bide
their time, in the hope that at a future elec-
tion the remedy will be found. "I can con-
ceive no greater social evil," says Governor
Parsons, of Alabama, "than a class of human-
ity in our midst so excluded from the social
pale as to become a stagnant, seething, mias-
matic, moral cesspool in the community. Hu-
man nature cannot improve without the moral
incentive of hope in a human future." The
policy of education, of moral development,
can alone secure the just rights and the liigh-
est good of all races; and if the rulers of other
countries were wise, they would apply this
truth in dealing with their discontented and
dangerous population. " Each class in Eng-
land," says the Westminster Review, " as it
has, by tlie natural progress of civilization, in
time advanced to a consciousness of its own
condition, and a comparison between itself
and others has in turn demanded to be admit-
ted to a share in the Government. Each in
turn has been admitted, and the country has
grown more and more powerful, and the peo-
ple more contented, as the basis of freedom
has gone down lower and spread out wider."
Sir, I trust this lesson of English history,
slowly evolved, and now held up to us by
English radicals, will not be slighted in deal-
ing with the question of negro enfranchise-
ment in our own country.

Mr. Speaker, if it shall be objected that the
negroes of this District are not fit to vote ; that
they are too ignorant and degraded to be in-
trusted with power, I have several replies to
make.

In the first place, the negroes of this Dis-
trict are not all ignorunt, as I have already
shown by facts. 3Iany of them are educated
and quite intelligent. The larger class who
are not so will not suffer by a compa.-ison
with the very large class of their ignorant
white neighbors. The " rounders" and ruf-
fians wholnstigate mobs against harmless and
peaceable colored people, and then publish
their deeds as a negro insurrection, and wlio
have probably been on the side of the rebels,
in sympathy or in fact, during the whole of
the 'war, are not the most fit men in the world
for the ballot. They vote, and there is no
proposition from any quarter to disfranchise
thorn. The policy of Massachusetts, referred
to yesterday by the gentleman from Iowa,
[Mr. Kasson,] would leave them untouched.

41

I commend this fact, to all the fair-minded op-
ponents of negro suffrage.

In the next place fitness is a relative term.
Nobody is 'perfectly fit to vote, because no-
body is perfectly informed as to all the sub-
jects of our legislation and policy. Of the
millions in our land who regularly go to the
polls and pass upon the gravest questions,
how many could stand even a tolerable ex-
amination on political economy, or consti-
tutional law, or political ethics? How many
men of good sense and fair intelligence could
give a well-defined reason even for some of
their most decided opinions ? The truth is, all
men are more or less unfit to vote, as all men
are more or less unfit to discharge all their du-
ties, civil, social, religious, or what not. The
political opinions and actions of the generali-
ty of men, who in a free country govern, are
not guided by logic, or any exact knowledge,
but by habit and tradition, by their social re-
lations, and by their natural trust in those
whom they think wiser than themselves. On
this subject the highest authority of which I
have any knowledge is John Stuart Mill.
He says :

" It is not necessary that the many should, in them-
selves, be perfectly wise ; it is sufficient if thny be duly
sensible of the value of superior wisdom. It is suffi-
cient if they be aware that the majority of political
questions turn upon considerations of whicli they and
all other persons not trained for the purpose must ne-
cessarily be very imperfect judges, and that their
judgment must, in general, be exercised upon the
characters and talents of the persons whom tney ap-
pomt to decide those questions for them, rather than
upon the questions themselves. Thisimplies no great-
er wisdom in the people than the very ordinary wis-
dom of knowing what things they are and are not suffi-
cient judge.s of. If the bulk of any people possess a
fair share of this wisdom, the argument for universal
suffrage, so far as respects that people, is irresistible."

Sir, by this standard I am willing to have
the colored people of this District tried ; and
I demand the same trial for the white men
who are loudest in their protest against negro
ballots.

Mr. Garfield. I desire to ask the gentle-
man whether, in his reference to the opinion
of John Stuart Mill, he quotes that distin-
guished writer as in favor of unqualified suf-
frage ?

Mr. Julian. No, sir. I quoted from him
simply to show his opinion as to the measure
of intelligence deemed by him necessary to
qualify men for suffrage. I q noted the extract
because it sustains the point I am arguing.

Mr. Garfield. I did not ask the question
witli a view of opposing any doctrine the gen-
tleman is advocating, but merely to suggest
that Mr. Mill, in the volume from which the
gentleman has just quoted, takes strong
ground in favor of suffrage restricted by edu-
cational qualifications,

Mr. Hill. Mr. Speaker, I understand my
colleague to base his argument in fovor of
negro suffrage in the District of Columbia
upon the personal right of suffrage. I desire
to ask my colleague whether he regards that
as a personal right elsewhere than in the Dis-
trict of Columbia ; and whether, as a citizen of
Indiana, where, it is notorious, negroes have

not for years past been permitted to migrate,
he is willing to extend that right to his own
State?

Mr. Julian. I shall refer to that question
presently ; and answer it, I think, to the sat-
isfaction of my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, mere knowledge, education in
its ordinary sense, will not fit any man to vote.
It must depend, as Dr. Lieber says, upon how
men use it. He declares it to be no guaran-
tee for free institutions, and refers to Prussia,
the best educated country in the world, where
liberty is an outlaw. The reading and writ-
ing test, so strenuously urged on this floor, is
a singularly insufficient measure of fitness.
Reading and writing are mechanical proces-
ses, and a man may be able to perform them
without any worthiness of life or character.
He may lack this qualification, and yet be
tolerably fit to have a voice in the Govern-
ment. If penmanship must be made the ave-
nue to the ballot, I fear several honorable gen-
tlemen on this floor will be disfranchised. A
merely educational test would allow all the
rebel leaders to vote, while the great body of
the people of the South, white and colored,
would be disfranchised. Sir, education of the
heart is fitr more important than that of the
brain. " The soul is greater than logic."
The hearts of the negroes have been unfalter-
ingly with us all through the war, inspiring
their judgment, vivifying their convictions,
and insuring their universal loyalty. They,
of all men in the South, have best vindicated
their title to the ballot.

Mr. Speaker, our American democracy has
never required any standard of knowledge as
a condition of suffrage; and the educational
test, invented by the Know-Nothings some
years ago, during their raid against the for-
eigners, would not now be thought of but for
our proverbial hatred of the negro. Accord-
ing to our census tables, more than half a mil-
lion men in our country annually go to the
polls who can neither read the Constitution
nor write their names. The proposition to
disfranchise this grand army of ignorant men
would meet with very little favor in any quar-
ter. No public man dreams of it, and any
such purpose as to the ignorant white men of
this District is expressly disavowed by the
advocates of restricted suftVage in this House.
Sir, the real trouble is that we liaie the vegro.
It is not his ignorance that offends us, but his
color; for those who are loudest in their op.
position to universal suffrage would be quite
as unwilling to give the ballot to Prederick
Douglass as to the most ignorant freedman in
the South. Of this fact 1 entertain no doubt
whatever, and I commend it to the attention
of conservative gentlemen on this floor, who
imagine that a vote for qualified negro suf-
frage will be less oflensive to their negro-
hating constituents than for the bill now un-
der discussion.

In further reply to the argument which
would disfranchise the negroes on account of
their ignorance, allow me to say that the rul-
ing class have made them ignorant by genera-

42

tions of oppression, and no man should bo al-
lowed to take advantage of his own wrong.
Sir, how can the negro emerge from his igno-
rance and barbarism if left under the heel of
his old tyrant? I agree that in any scheme
of universal suffrage universal knowledge, as
far as posssble, sliould be demanded; but
universal suffrage is one of the surest means
of securing a higher level of intelligence for
the whole people. I would not level the edu-
cated classes downward, but the ignorant
masses upward, by giving them political pow-
er and the incentive to rise. Ourtirst duty is
to take off their chains, as the best means of
preparing them for the ballot. By no means
would I disparage education, and especially
political training; but the ballot is itself a
schoolmaster. If you expect a man to use it
well you must place it in his hands, and let
him learn to cast it by trial. If you wish to
teach a iiian to swim, you must first put him
in the water. If you wish to teach him how to
handle the tools of the mechanic, you must first
put them in his hands. If you wish to teach
the ignorant man, black or white, how to vote,
you must grant him the right to vote as the
first step in his education. The negro, I am
sure, will generally be found voting on the
side of his countrj^, and gradually learning
his duties as a citizen. Sir, let one rule be
adopted for white and black, and let us, if
possible, dispossess our minds, utterly, of the
vile spirit of caste which has brought upon
our country all its woes.

Mr. Speaker, I rejjly still further, that my
argument is not at all invalidated if I admft
that the white people of this District are de-
cidedly superior to the negroes in education
and general intelligence. This very superi-
ority would give them an important advan-
tage over the class not thus favored. It would
become a powerful weapon in carrying out
their peculiar purposes ; and these will cer-
tainly be antagonistic to the best good of
those whom law and usage nave so long in-
jured and degraded. If any class will be pe-
culiarly exposed, and need the strongest safe-
guards, it will be the negroes, who have been
made comparative children in knowledge and
self-help. All class rule is vicious ; but if one
class must rule another, it will be found far
better to allow the prerogative to the labor-
ing many, whose usefulness and numbers best
entitle them to it, than to confer it upon the
aristocracy, the "gentlemen," the idlers, who
will of course maintain their privileges. The
many who have been denied equal rights, and
suffered from the privation, will bo quite as
fit for political power as the few who have had
no such experience.

Mr. Speaker, I hope I need not replj' to
the argument often urged, that negro voting
will lead to the amalgamation of races, or so-
cial equality, which now seems to mean the
same thing. On this subject there is nothing
left to conjecture, and no ground for alarm.
Negro sutfrage has been very extensively
tried in this country, and we are able to ap-
peal to facts. Negroes h.id the right to vote

in all the colonies save one, under the Arti-
cles of Confederation. They voted, I believe,
generally, on the question of adopting the
Constitution of the United States. They
have voted ever since in New York and the
New England States, sav.e Connecticut, in
which the pi-actice was discontinued in 1818.
They voted in New Jersey till the year
1840; in Virginia and Maryland till 1833;
in Pennsylvania till 1838 ; in Delaware
till 1831 ; and in North Carolina and Ten-
nessee till 1836. I have never understood
that in all this experience of negro suffrage
the amalgamation of the races was the result.
I think these evils are not at all complained
of to this day in New England and New York,
where negro suffrage is still practiced and re-
cognized by law. Indeed, the fact is notori-
ous, that amalgamation is almost totally un-
known, except in a state of slavery, W'hich ob-
literates the ties of life, and subjects the negro
woman to the unbridled power of the master
race. Sir, give the colored man the ballot, so
that he may maintain the liberty already
nominally conferred, and the best possible step
will have been taken to regulate and purify
the relations heretofore existing between the
races. Should the copperheads and rebels of
this District feel in danger of matrimony with
their African fellow-citizens in consequence
of negro suffrage, I would have Congress j^ass
a law for their protection ; but I would not
withhold the ballot from the colored people for
a reason so contingent, and so uncomplimen-
tary to their character and taste.

Nor do I deem it necessarj', Mr. Speaker,
to dwell on the argument that negro voting
will lead to negro office-holding, negro domi-
nation, and ultimately to a war of races. Such
an argument, current as it is in certain quar-
ters, finds no shadow of support in any known
facts. The experience to which I have refer-
red certainly can alarm no one, and the in-
stances are rare, if in fact any can be adduc-
ed, in which colored men have held office,
though their numbers, as in States like Penn-
sylvania, Virginia and Maryland, w'ere very
large when black suffrage was allowed. Sir, no
fact is more notorious, and at the same time
more discreditable, than the nearly universal
prejudice of the white race in our country
against the negro. That prejudice will not
pass away swiftly, but graduallj^ and slowly.
Like every other form of injustice, it will ul-
timately die ; but the prospect of this is clear-
ly not immediate. AVe are certainly not yat
so in love with the negro that we prei'er him
as our ruler ; but when the fact shall be real-
ized, it will not be negro domination, but
negro rule of choice, by white as well as black
suffrage, and cannot therefore lead to an j' war
of races. This is quite evident; for though
the negroes here are numei-ous and in portions
of the South constitute the majoritj', the tide
! of emigration from the North and from Eu-
rope must very soon place the white race
largely in the ascendant everywhere. I pre-
sent these considerations in order, if possible,
to calm the fears of my conservative friends ;

4.3

for us to myself, my faith in democratic prin-
ciples depends not at all upon any temporary
or local results of their application. Sir, a
•war of races in this country can only be the
result of denying to the negro his rights, just
as such wars have been caused elsewhere; and
the late troubles in Jamaica should teach us,
if any lesson can, the duty of dealing justly
with our millions of freedmen. Like causes
must produce like results. English law made
the slaves of Jamaica free, hut England failed
to enact other laws making their freedom a
blessing. The old spirit of domination never
died in the slave-master, but was only mad-
dened by emancipation. For thirty years no
measures were adopted tending to protect or
educate the freedmen. At length, and quite
recently, the colonial authorities passed a
whipping act, then a law of eviction for peo-
ple of color, then a law imposing heavy im-
post duties, bearing most grievously upon
them, and finally a law providing for the im-
portation of coolies, thus taxing the freedmen
for the very purpose of taking the bread out
of the mouths of their own children! I be-
lieve it turns out, after all, that these outrag-
ed people even then did not rise up against the
local government; but the white ruffians of
the island, goaded on by their own unchecked
rapacity, and availing themselves of the in-
fernal pretext of a black insurrection, perpe-
trated deeds of rapine and vengeance that
find no parallel anywhere, save in the acts of
their natural allies, the late slave-breeding
rebels, against our flag. Sir, is there no warn-
ing here against the policy of leaving our
freedmen to the tender mercies of their old
masters? Are the white rebels of this Dis-
trict any better than the Jamaica villains to
whom I have referred ? The late report of
General Schurz gives evidence of some impor-
tant facts which will doubtless apply here.
The mass of the white people in the South, he
says, are totally destitute of any national
feeling. The same bigoted sectionalism that
swayed them prior to the war is almost uni-
versal. Nor have they any feeling of the
enormity of treason as a crime, To them it is
not odious, as very naturally it would not be,
under the policy which foregoes the punish-
ment of traitors, and gives so many of them
the chief places of power in the South. And
their hatred of the negro to-day is as intense
and scathing, and as universal, as before the
war. I believe it to be even more so. The
proposition to educate him and elevate his
condition is everywhere met with contempt
and scorn. They acknowledge that slavery,
as it once existed, is overthrown ; but the con-
tinued inferiority and subordination of the
colored race, under some form of vassalage or
serfdom, is regarded by them as certain. Sir,
they have no thought of anything else; and
if the ballot shall be withhel'd from the freed-
men after the withdrawal of military power,
the most revolting forms of oppression and
outrage will be practiced, resulting, at last,
in that very war of races which is foolishly

apprehended as the efi"cct of giving the ne-
gro his rights.

Mr. Speakei-, a more plausible, if not a
more formidable objection to negro suffrage
in this District remains to be noticed. Most
of the Northern States refuse the ballot to
their colored citizens, and even deny them
their testimony in suits in which white per-
sons are parties. In Indiana, which has done
so noble and glorious a part in the war, we
have a constitutional provision, and laws made
in pursuance of it, by which negroes from
other sections of our country are forbidden to
enter the State. It is made a penal ottence
for any negro or mulatto to come into her
borders, or'for any white person to bring him
in, or employ him after he shall have come.
Now, how can the Eepresentatives of such
States be expected to vote for negro suffrage
in this District? If Congress, having the
sole and exclusive power of legislation here,
ought to give the ballot to the negro, why
should not Indiana give the ballot te her ne-
gro population? And how can western Ee-
presentatives face their constituents and an-
swer this question, after having supported
this bill ? And it is just here that its passage
must encounter its greatest peril; for members
of Congress, however patriotic, will be ex-
ceedingly glad to escape this dilemma, and
to avoid the committal to the policy of negro
suffrare generally, which would seem to be
implied in the support of this measure.

In seeking to meet this difficulty, several
considerations must boborne in mind. In the
first place, the demand for negro suffrage in
this District rests not alone upon the general
ground of right, of democratic equality, but
upon peculiar reasons superinduced by the
late war, which make it an immediate prac-
tical issue, involving not merely the welfare
of the colored man but the safety of society
itself. If civil government is to be revived at
all in the South, it is perfectly self-evident
that the loyal men there must vote ; but the
loyal men are the negroes, and the disloyal
are the whites. To put back the governing
power into the hands of the very men who
brought on the war, and exclude those who
have proved themselves the true friends of
the country, would be utterly suicidal and
atrociously unjust. Negro suffrage in the
districts lately "in revolt is thus a present po-
litical necessity, dictated by the selfishness of
the white loyalist as well as his sense of jus-
tice. But in our Western States, in which
the negro population is relatively small, and
the prevailing sentiment of the white people
is loyal, no such emergency exists. Society-
will not be endangered by the temporary post-
ponement of the right of negro suflVage till
public opinion shall render it practicable, and
our western Eepresentatives can thus vote for
this bill without encountering any reasonable
hostility from their conservative constituents,
and leaving the question of suflrage in tho
loyal States to be decided by them on its p.ier-
its. If Indiana bad gono out of her proper

44

place in the Union, and her loyal population
had been found too weak to force her back in-
to it without negro bullets and bayonets, and
if- after thus coercing lier again into her con-
stitutioiuil orbit, her loyalists had been found
unable to hold her there without negro ballots,
the question of negro sutfrage in Indi;\na
would most obviously have been very differ-
ent from the comjiaratively abstract one that
it now is. It would, it is true, have involved
the question of justice to the negroes of Indi-
ana, but the transcendantly broader and more
vital question of national salvation also. Let
me add further, that should Congress pass this
bill, and should the ballot be given to the ne-
groes in the sunny South generally, those in
our northern and western States, many of
them at least, may resturn to their native land'
and its kindlier skies, and thus quiet the
nerves of conservative gentlemen who dread
too close a proximity to those whose skins,
owing to some providential oversight, were
somehow o; other not stamped with the true
orthodox luster.

It should be further remembered, Mr.
Speaker, that the bill before us relates ex-
clusively to this District, and those municipal
and pidioe powers which are to be exercised
here under the laws of Congress. Were it in
fact dangerous and unwise to give the negro
a voice "in the general legislation of the
covmtry, I can see no objection whatever to
the experiment of black suffrage in this
District, in the purely local administration
of its affairs. For very excellent reasons,
alreadv given, I believe the negroes here are
entitled to the ballot, and are at least as fit as
multitudes of white men who are unquestion-
ably to have it. They have done their full
share in saving the nation's life. Many of
them went into the Army as the substitutes
of white ruffians and vagabonds who daily
"damn the nigger," and whose unprofitable
lives were saved by the black column which
stood between them and the bullets of the
rebels. Sir, let the experiment be fairly made
here, on this model political farm of the na-
tion. Should it fail. Congress will abandon
it ; should it work well, it may prove a most
excellent forerunner of measures of larger
justice to the colored race in our land. I do
not mean to say that the colored soldiers of
this District should alone have the ballot,
because no such rule is proposed or thought
of as to white voting. If the white rabble of
this District who did not enter our Army,
and who to a great extent were in sympathy
with the public enemy, are to vote, as they
undoubtedly will, it would be a very mean
mockery of justice to withhold the ballot
from Uiyal negroes who, although they did
not fight, furnished the Government with
their full share of men.

Mr. Speaker, I ask conservative gentlemen
on this floor to consider duly one other fact.
If difficulties arc to bo encountered in voting
for this bill, still greater difficulties are to be
met in voting against it, and I know of no
half Ava.v ground in dealing with fundamental

principles. To vote against this measure ia
to vote against the first truths of democratic
liberty. It is to vote for the old spirit of
caste and the old law of hate which have so
terribly blasted our land. It is to vote down
justice and install misrule and maladministra-
tion as king. It is to sanction and encour-
age, by the national example, the barbarous
and worse than heathen laws of the nortliern
and western States, already referred to, which
so loudly call for our rebuke. It is to make
a record which the roused spirit of liberty
and progress, and the thick-coming events of
the future, will certainly disown and turn
from with shainc. Ami while such a vote
might tend to placate the conservative and
the trimmer, it would offend those radical
hosts now everywhere springing to their feet,
and preparing for battle against every form
of inequality and injustice, and in favor of
" all rights for all." Sir, justice is safe. The
right thing is the expedient thing. Demp-
cracy is not a lie. God is not the devil, " nor
was Christianity itself established by priae
essays, Bridgewater bequests, and a minimum
of four thousand five hundred a year." Far
better will it be for a northern Representativje
and for the cause of llepublicanism itself to
vote on the right side of this question, even
should it cost him his seat on this floor, than
to vote on the wrong side, and thus maintahi
his place by the sacrifice of both his own
manhood and the public welware intrusted to
his hands. Sir, I agree that the passage of
this bill would tend to open the way to per-
fect equality before the law in all the States.
I do not deny that the public would so under-
stand it, and I decline none of the consequen-
ces of my vote. Mr. Jefferson, speaking of
the negroes, declared that "whatever be their
degree of talent it is no measure of their
rights," and he likewise declared that " among
those who either pay or fight for their country
no line can be drawn." That is my demo-
cracy. "The one idea," says Humboldt,
"which history exhibits as evermore develop-
ing itself into greater distinctness, is the idea
of humanity, the noble endeavor to throw
down all barriers erected between men by
prejudice and one-sided views, and, by setting
aside the distinctions of religion, country, and
color, to treat the whole human race as one
brotherhood." Sir, on this broad ground, co-
incident with Christianity itself, 1 plant ray
feet; and no man can fail who will resolutery
maintain it.

Mr. Speaker, I must not conclude my argji-
ment without referring to one further con-
sideration, by which the passage of this bill,
in my judgment, is urgently demanded. I
have argued that the ballot should be given
to the negroes as a matter of justice to thepi.
It should likewise be done as a matter of re-
tributive justice to the slaveholders and rebels.
According to the best information I can d\>-
tain, a very large majority of the white people
of this District have been rebels in heait
during the war, and are rebels in heart still.
That contempt for the negro and scorn of free

iriclustr_v which constituted the mainspring of
the rebellion cropped out here during the ■svar
in every form that was possible, under the
immediate shadow of the central Government.
Meaner rebels than many in this District
could scarcely have been found in the
whole land. They have not been punished.
"fhe halter has been cheated out of their
necks. I am very sorry to say that under
what seems to be a false mercy, a misapplied
humanity, the guiltiest rebels of the war have
thus far been allowed to escape justice. I
have no desire to censure the authorities of
the Government for this fact. I hope they
liave some valid excuse for their action. This
qiiestion of punishment, I know, is a difficult
Ohe. The work of punishment is so vast that
it naturally palsies the will to enter upon it.
It never can be thoroughly done on this side
of the grave. And were it practicable to
punish adequate)}' all the most active and
guilty rebels, justice would still remain un-
satisfied. Far guiltier men than they are, the
rebel sympathizers of the loyal States, who
coolly stood by and encouraged their friends
in the South in their work of national rapine
and murder, and while they were ever ready
to go joyfully into the service of the devil,
were too cowardly to wear his uniform and
carry his weapons in open day. But Congress
in this District has the power to punish by
ballot, and there will be a beautiful poetic
justice in the exercise of this power. Sir, let
it be applied. The rebels here will recoil
from it with horror. Some of the worst of
them, sooner than submit to black sufirage,
will doubtless leave the Disti'ict, and thus
render it an unepeakable service. To be
voted down and governed by Yankee and
negro ballots will seem to them an intoler-
able grievance, and this is among the excel-
lent reasons why I am in favor of it. If
neither hanging nor exile can be extempor-
ized for the entertainment of our domestic
rebels, let us require them at least to make
their bed on negro ballots during the re-
mainder of their unworthy lives Of course
they will not relish it, but that will be their
own peculiar concern. Their darling institu-
tion nuist be charged with all the consequen-
ces of the war. They sowed the wind, and if
required must reap the whirlwind. Eetribu-
tion follows wrong doing ; and tliis law must
work out its results. Eebels and their
sympathizers, I am sure, will fare as well
under negro suffrage as they deserve, and I
desire to leave them, as far as practicable, in
tlie hands of their colored brethren. ISIor
shall I stop to inquire very critically whether
the negroes are fit to vote. As between
themselves and white rebels, who deserve to
be hung, they are eminently fit. I would not
have them more so. Will you, Mr. Speaker,
will even my conservative and Democratic
friends, be particularly nice or fastidious in
the choice of a man to vote down a rebel ?
6hull we insist upon a perfectly finished

gentleman and scholar to vote do^n the
traitors and white trash of this District, who
have recently signalized themselves by mob-
bing unoffending negroes ? Sir, almost any-
body, it seems to me, will answer the pur^jose.
I do not pretend that the colored men here,
should they get the ballot, will not sometimes
abuse it. Thej' will undoubtedly make mis-
takes. In some cases they may even vote on
the side of their old masters. But I feel
pretty safe in saying that even white men,
perfectly free from all suspicion of negro
blood, have sometimes voted on the wrong
side. Sir, I appeal to gentlemen on this
floor, and especially to my Democratic
friends, to say whether they can not call to
mind instances in which white men have
voted Avrong? Indeed, it rather strikes me
that white voting, ignorant, depraved, party-
ridden Democratic white voting, had a good
deal to do in hatching into life the rebellion
itself, and that no results of negro voting are
likely to be much worse. I respectfully com-
mend this consideration to my friend from
Iowa, [Mr. Kasson,] and to conservative
gentlemen here on both sides of this Hall.
Sir, as I have argued elsewhere, all men are
liable to make mistakes. The democracy I
stand by, the fitness to govern which I believe
in, is the aggregate wisdom and practical
common sense of the whole people. This,
and not the wisdom of our rulers, or of any
select few, carried us safely through the
rebellion, and this only can be trusted in
time to come. The:e is no other reliance
under God for us, as the champi(_)ns and ex-
emplars of Eepublicanism, and the sooner we
braveljf accept this truth the better it will be
for all races and orders of men composing our
great body-politic. In demanding the ballot
in this District for the despised and defense-
less, I simply demand the national recognition
of Christianity, which is ''the root of'all de-
mocracy, the highest fact in the rights of
man." I beseech gentlemen to rernember
this. As the lawgivers of a disenthralled
Republic, let us not write " infidel" on its
banner, by trampling humanity and justice
under our feet in these high places of power.
The question is ours to decide. The right, so
earnestly prayed for, is ours to bestow. The
assumption set up by the white voters here of
the right to decide this question is as super-
latively ridiculous as it is sublimeljnmpudent.
They have no more right to vote themselves
the exclusive depositaries of power in this
District than the inmates of its penitentiary
have to vote themselves at liberty to go at
large. Congress is the sovereign and sole
judge; and what the colored men here ask at
our hands, for their just protection, and as
their sure refuge, is the ballot —

' .1 weapon firmer set,

And better than the bayonet ;

A wenpon tliat comes down as still

As snow-flakes fnll np'.n the sod ;
But expcntes a freeman's will

As lightning does ihe \\'\\\ of God."

Amendment of the Constitution,

Hon. GEOEGE W. JULIAN,

In the house OP EEPRESENTATIYES, Janxjaky 29, 18G6.

The Honso having under consideration the
joint resohition rcp(n'ted by the committee on
reconstruction for the amendment of the Con-
stitution of the United States —

Mr. Julian said :

Mr. Speaker: Before this debate shall be
concluded, I desire to submit some observa-
tions which I deem important, and which I
r3«pectfull3' commend to the consideration of
those who advocate the proposition reported
bj' the joint committee of fifteen. How I
shall filially cast my vote on that proposition,
I cannot now certainly decide. I find diffi-
culties in my path ; and I shall feel much
obliged to any gentleman who may be able
and willing to clear them away, and thus,
perhaps, assist others on this floor in reaching
a just conclusion. I should regret, excecd-
ino-ly, to separate myself from those with
w'aom I habitually act here, by opposing the
measure referred to, and I must not do so
without recording my reasons ; and these rea-
sons, in so far as they possess weight, may
serve as my protest against whatever is objec-
tionable in that measure, should its modifica-
tion be found impracticable, and I should
finally give it my support as the best thing
within our power.

Under the constitutional injunction upon
the United States to guaranty a republican
form of government to every State, I believe
the power already exists in the nation to reg-
ulate the right of sufl-rage. It can only
exercise this power through Congress; and
Congress, of course, must decide what is a re-
publican form of government, and when the
national authority shall interpose against
State action, for the purpose of executing the
constitutional guarantee. Ko one will deny
the authority of Congress to decide that if a
State should disfranchise one-third, one-half,
or two-thirds of her citizens, such State would
cease to be republican, and might be required
to accept a ditfcrent rule of suffrage. If Con-
gress could intervene in such a case, it could
obviously intervene in any other case in which
it might deem it necessary or proper. It cer-
tainly might decide that the disfranchisment
by a State of a whole race of people within
her borders is inconsistent with a republican
form of government, and in their behalf, and
in the execution of its own authority and

duty, restore them to their equal right with
others to the franchise. It might decide, for
example, that in North Carolina, where 631-
000 citizens disfranchise 321,000, the govern-
ment is not republican, and should be made
so by extending the franchise. It might do
the same m Virginia, where 719,000 citizens
disfranchise 533,000 ; in Alabama, where
596,000 citizens disfranchise 337,000; in Geor-
gia, where 591,000 citizens disfranchise 465,-
000; in Louisiana, where 457,000 citizens
disfranchise 350,000; in Mississippi, where
353,000 citizens disfranchise 436,000 ; and in
South Carolina, where onh' 291,000 citizens
disfranchise 411,000. Can any man who rev-
erences the Constitution deny either the au-
thority or the duty of Congress to do all this
in the execution of the guarantee named? Or
if the 411,000 negroes in South Carolina were
to organize a government, and disfranchise her
291,000 white citizens, would anybody doubt
the authority of Congress to pronounce such
government anti-republican, and secure the
ballot equally to white and black citizens as
the remedy ? Or if a State should prescribe as
a qualification for tlie ballot such an owner-
ship of property, real or personal, as would
disfranchise the great body of her people,
could not Congress undoubtedly interfere ?
So of an educational test, which might fix the
standard of knowledge so high as to place the
governing power in the hands of a select few.
The power in all such cases is a reserved one
in Congress, to be exercised according to its
own judgment, with no accountability to any
tribunal save the people; and without such
power the nation would be at the mercy of as
many oligarchies as there are States. Na-
tionality would only be possible by the per-
mission of the States.

The same authority, Mr. Speaker, is claim.ed
by eminent jurists under the constitutional
amendment abolishing slavery and giving
Congress the power, by " appropriating legis-
lation," to "enforce'' thcprovision. The word
" appropriate" appeals to legislative discre-
tion, and the word "enforce" implies such
compulsory measures as Congress may deem
"appropriate" for the purpose of ridding the
country of every vestige of slavery, in form
and in fact. " There can be no denial," said
Chief Justice Parsons, not long since, "that
when this whole amendment shall be adopted

47

Congress -will have the constitutional power
— be its exercise of this power wise or unwise
— to rend slavery out from our whole country,
root and branch, leaf and fruit, and guard
effectually against its return in any form, or
under any guise, or to any extent." The na-
tion, in other words, having given freedom
to four millions of people, can make that free-
dom a blessing by conferring it in substance,
as well as in name. It not only can do this,
but is sacredly bound to do it. The right to
freedom carries with it the right of way to it,
and that right of way is the ballot. Without
it the freedom of these people is a delusion
and a lie.

The freedmen of the South are not free, and
cannot be, when left to the domination of
their former masters, exasperated by their de-
feat in a war which outraged civilization by
thus aiming to perpetuate their rule. I need
not argue this proposition, because no man
can dispute it without ignoring the most obvi-
ous principles of human nature, and closing
his eyes to well authenticated facts of recent
occurrence in the island of Jamaica and in
the States lately in revolt. Sir, every gentle-
man on this floor knows what a shadow and a
mockery is the freedom thus far vouchsafed
to the millions now declared free by the Con-
stitution, and that to commit their fortunes
to the tender mercies of white rebels would
be like committing the lamb to the jaws of
the wolf. But if I am right, then Congress
could unquestionably' place the ballot in the
hands of the loyal freedmen, and thus arm them
with the power of self-defense, and save them
from a condition of pitiless serfdom, in com-
parison with which slavery in its old form
would be a blessing. I ask, gentlemen, there-
fore, to remember, that should every proposed
amendment of the Constitution now before
this House be voted down, we shall not, I
think, be wholly without a remedy for the
evil we are so anxious to cure. Instead of
restricting representation to actual suffrage,
we can extend sulfrage to actual representa-
tion, which will be far better. It is true,
that the power of Congress to guaranty re-
publican governments in the States through
its intervention with the question of suf-
rage, has not hitherto been exercised; but
this certainly does not disprove the exist-
ence of such power, nor the expediency of its
exercise now, under an additional and inde-
pendent constitutional grant, and when a fit
occasion for it has come through the madness
of treason. It will not be forgotten that we
have entered upon a new dispensation. Sla-
very sleeps in its bloody shroud. Its shaping-
hand, as we believe, Avill no longer mould our
national policy at home or abroad. Its evil
genius will no longer inspire our public men,
and give law to the nation from the supreme
bench ; but in the noonday radiance of uni-
versal liberty, the Government, I trust, in all
its departments, will find its speedy deliver-
ance from the trammels of the past. Such, at
least, is my hope.

But, Mr. Speaker, I may be mistaken. We

may not be able, at a single bouiul, to escape
the benumbing influence of slavery. Our
exodus from the long and sore bondage of the
past, may be tedious and toilsome. Our
dwarfed manhood may require time and judi-
cious tonics to restore its original vigor. I
cannot feel at all confident in the opinion I
have expressed, when I find so many distin-
guished gentlemen on this floor insisting that
we are still bovxnd by former interpretations
of the Constitution, in the interest of slavery.
I therefore favor a Constitutional amendment
which shall make certain that which may
otherwise remain doubtful. But I do not see
how I can consistently support the amend-
ment reported by the joint committee, though
I do not say that I will not. In the first
place, it seems to me that it offends the moral
sense of the country. It provides "that when-
ever the elective franchise shall be denied or
abridged in any State on account of race or
color, all persons of such race or color shall
be excluded from the basis of representation."
Sir, what right has any State " to deny or
abridge the elective franchise on account of
race or color?" To assent to such a proposi-
tion is to insult humanity and mock justice.
It is, moreover, as absurd as to deny or
abridge the franchise on account of the dist-
ance across the Atlantic or the height of the
Alleghanies. Why not say, in the plain
aflSrmative words of the am.e'ndment submit-
ted by the gentleman from 3Iassachusetts,
[Mr. Elliot,] that—

'= Tlie elective franchise ijhall not be denied or
abridged in any State on account of race or color ?"

The distinguished chairman of the joint
committee concedes the right of a State under
the Constitution to disfranchise its citizens
for such cause, and so does my friend from-
New York, [Mr. Conkling.] If they are
right, then the very thing to be done 'is to
amend the Constitution in that particular.
Have we any authority to sacrifice the rights
of a whole race in the South in order to save
ourselves from the evils of unequal represen-
tation, and thus compound with injustice and
oppression? Will the world justify us in
protecting our own political rights and
abridging the rights of white rebels at the
expense of millions of freedmen who will
thus be made the vicarious victims of our
policy ? Would that be an honest payment
of the debt we righteously owe them? My
friend from Ohio, [Mr. "Bingham] differs
with his colleagues on the joint committee as
to the right of a State to disfranchise her
citizens, and defends the proposed amend-
ment as a mere penaltj', designed to restrain
the States from violating their constitutional
duty.

Mr. Bingham. I do not admit and never
have admitted that any State has a right to
disfranchise any portion of the citizens of the
United States, resident therein, entitled to
vote for Kepresentatives under the second
section of the first article of the Constitution,
except as a punishment for their own crimes.
A citizen may forfeit his right by crime, and

48

tlie State may enforce that forfcituve. I fa-
vor this amendment as a penalty in aid of the
rights guaranteed by the Costitution as it
now stands.

Mr. Julian. The gentleman niii^undcr-
stands what I said. I have just stated what
the gentleman from Ohio now alRrms, that he
defends the amendment reported by the
committee as a mere penalty intended to re-
strain the States from striking down the rights
of their citizens under the Constitution; but
as we are now endeavoring to amend the
Constitution, why incorporate it in a mere
penalty against its violation, which at least
seems to i'mply the right to violate it, if the
penalty shall be accepted ? Since the whole
policy of the Government fi'om its beginning
has yielded the right of the Southern States
to disfranchise their people of color, why not
provide a positive prohibition of such right?
Mr. Madison declared it to be wrong "to
admit in the Constitution the idea that there
can be property in man." So I say it seems
to me wrong to admit in this amendment the
idea that the rights of the citizen can be taken
away by reason of color or race, and that in
perfecting the organic law of the nation we
should avoid any phraseology which by any
possibility would admit a construction so fatal
to the fundamental principle of all free gov-
ernment. Why temporize by adopting half-
way measures and a policy of indirection ?
The shortest distance between two given
points, is a strait line. Let us follow it, in so
important a work as amending the Constitu-
tion. The advocates of the proposed amend-
ment do not profess to be satisfied with it.
They confess that it comes short of its pur-
pose. They say they have another proposition
in reserve which will cover the whole ground
Then why not bring it forward and let us
meet it on its own merits? Why j-ield any
longer to the policy of compromise? Sir,
remembering the mistakes of our fathers in
the beginning, and the frightful legacy to
their children which has been the result, let
us be warned against any short-sighted and
temporary expedients to-day. Let us bring
ourselves face to face with the great demand
of the nation upon us, and then appeal to the
people to sanction a plain, unambiguous
amendment of the Constitution, which we
believe to be necessary to their future se-
curity.

But the advocates of this measure, while

{ promising us a better, frankly tell us it is the
jest we can now hope to secure They defend
it on this ground, and insist that our present
alternative is between its adoption, and the
representation of four million loyal colored
people in Congress bj' ex-rebels, who would
utterly misrepresent their wishes and tram-
ple down their rights. To this, several an-
swers are obviously suggested.

In the first place, how do you know that
tliG broad proposition I advocate, will fail in
Congress, or before the people? These are
revolutionary days. Whole generations of
common time are now crowded into the span

of a few years. Life was never before so
grand and blessed an opportunity. The man
mistakes his reckoning, who judges either the
present or the future by any political almanac
of by-gone years. Growth, development,
progress, are the expressive watchwords of
the hour. Who can remember the marvel-
ous events of the ]>ast four years, necessitated
by the late war, and then predict the failure,
of further measures, woven into the same fab-
ric, and born of the same inevitable logic ? It
is only a few days since this nation, speaking
through its llepresentatives on this floor, by
a vote of IIG against 54, deliberately sactioned
the very policy I urge, as an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States. Sir, if
that policy is right in this District, shall we
decline to extend it over the districts lately
in revolt where far sti'onger reasons plead for
it? Shall wo distrust the people, who have
been so ready to second all radical measures
during the war, and now speak with such
emphasis on emerging, with newly anointed
vision, from its terrible baptism of fire and
blood ? And besides, how do you know, Mr.
Speaker, that even the proposition reported
by the committee can prevail, either in Con-
gress or in the States ? It encounters, I know,
a veiy considerable opposition here, and I
sincerely hope it may be re-committed and
amended. It may encounter a greater oppo-
sition in the States. Its indirect mode of
reaching a desirable result, and its apparent
i-ecognit^ion of the infernal heresy of State
sovereignty, ma}" seriously endanger, if not
totally defeat, the proposition. Sir, I hope
this suggestion will not be deemed unworthy
of consideration. But the question, after all,
is, what amendment of the Constitution, if
any, is really demanded ? If we can agree as
to this, then we should submit it, trusting in
God, in the people, and in the great educa-
tional forces now everj'where at work, that it
will prevail. Should it fail for a season, it
will triumph ultimately, and in the end repay
all the cost of its delay. Neither constitu-
tional amendments nor reforms in any other
direction could make such headway, if no man
should ever espouse them till the people are
found prepared to accept them without oppo-
sition or dissent.

Again, Mr. Speaker, it should not be for-
gotten that the proposed amendment, should
it prevail, must fail of its purpose, till after
the census of 1870. If I am not mistaken,
there could be no new allotment of llepreson-
tavies among the Southern States, prior to
that time. If I am mistaken, and the Con-
stitution will permit us to take another cen-
sus whenever we choose, it will not make
any practical difference, as no one proposes
that measure, and if adopted, the re-apportion-
ment under the new census, could not take
etJ'ect sooner than the time I have named.
In all these intervening years, therefore, these
rebel States must have their full rejiresenta-
tions under the existing basis, or else their rep-
resentatives must be kept out of Congress. If
thoy should be admitted, prior to the passage

49

of the amendment, there would be no coer-
cive authority in the hands of the Executive
or Congress to constrain any State to ratify
the amendment, and it could not be ratified.
If the Soutliern Eepresentatives should not
be admitted, then the evils of unequal repre-
sentation would be avoided, so long as they
are kept out. The object of the amendment,
therefore, namely, the reduction of rebel rep-
resentation in Congress and the extension of
suffrage to the whole people of the South,
could not be secured before the year 1870, or
1872, if the next census shall be taken at the
regular time ; and then it would remain for
the Southern States to say whether they
would give the ballot to the negroes, or still
cling to that unchristian spirit of caste and
lust of power which have so long been the
higher law of the South. If I am correct in
making these statements, much of the alleged
practical significance of the proposed amend-
ment is made to disappear, and we are thus
the better prepared to demand the amend-
ment, really necessary and effective, or else
such congressional action as shall grant suf-
frage to the people of the South, irrespective
of color. Should both these measures for the
present be found impracticable, I do not see
that any great interest of the country will
sufiTer in consequence, while the regular inarch
of events and the great tidal force of public
opinion will at length open the way for such
action, in some form, as shall be required by
the national exigency.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I deny that the reb-
els of the South, who are the rulers of the
South, would grant the ballot to the negro if
the proposed amendment were now in full
force. They would not do it, because their
love of domination, their contempt for free
labor, and their scorn of an enslaved and
downtrodden race are as intense as ever.
They hate the negro now, not simply as the
ally of the Yankee in foiling their treason, but
as the author of all their misfortunes, who,
having been villainonsly misused by them, is
of course villainously despised. They hate
him with a rancor that feeds unceasingly
upon every memory of their humiliation and
defeat. They confront him with a hatred so
remorseless, withering, consuming, that it
crops out to-day in every quarter of the South,
in deeds of outrage, violence, and crime,
which find no parallel even in the atrocities
practiced in that section under the old codes
of slavery, which were codes of murder and
all minor crimes. Can any gentleman read
the late report of General Schutz, and listen
to the testimony of the great cloud of concur-
ring witnesses whose voices are now filling
the land, respecting the popular feeling in
the South, and then believe that the rebel
class will ever, under any inducements, vol-
untarily give equal political rights to the
freedmen ? The leaders of southern opinion
openly declare that they would rather die
than give the ballot to their former slaves.
While it would give their section an increased
representation in Congress, that representa-
3

tion woiild be secured by the votes of negroes,
and abolitionists, whose darling purpose
would be to Yankeeize and abolitionize the
entire South, and put the old slave dynasty
hopelessly unded their feet. And the old
slave dj-nasty understands this perfectly.
They know that negro sufl'rage, by checking
rebel rapacity and restoring oixler, and thus
rendering emigration from the North and
from Europe a safe and practicable thing,
will re-organize the whole structure of society
in their region, and thus doom their pride and
sloth to a hopeless conflict with the energy
and enterprise of free labor. Do you tell me
that men are governed by their own interests
and that the ruling class in the South, find-
ing no other way to serve those interests, will
extend suffrage to the negroes? I answer,
that long-cherished and traditionary prejudi-
ces and passions are stronger than interest.
It was always the true interest of the South
to abolish her slavery, but she waged a horrid
war to save and eternize it. She could al-
ways have increased her power in Congress
by its abolition, but she loved her domination
over the negro moi'e than she loved political
pov^er. It was the interest of the northern
States, long ago, to unite in checking the ag-
gressions and the further spread of slaA'ery in
the Union, and thereby to hasten the employ-
ment of peaceable measures in the South for
its abandonment; but the northern States, on
the contrary, became the allies of the slave
breeders in fortifying and extending their
rule on this continent. It was the interest of
our first pjarents not to sin, but the devil proved
too much for them. Sir, the argument of
interest will not do. Passion is stronger than
interest, because, being blind, it does not per-
ceive the best good. Before I agree to en-
trust the freedmen to the interest of their old
masters, I want to know that they understand
what their interest is, and that they have so far
outlived their prejudices that they will follow
it. I think no gentleman on this floor can
feel sure on these points. What we want,
what the nation needs for its own salvation,
is a constitutional amendment, or a law of
Congress which shall guaranty the ballot to
the freedmen of the South. This is not sim-
ply his equal political right as a citizen, but
his natural right as a man. As I have argued
on another occasion, a voice in the Govern-
ment which deals with property, liberty, and
life, is not a " privilege," but right, and as
natural, as indefeasable as the right to life
itself. Government cannot rightfully with-
hold it, but it is as sacredly bound to secuj'cit
to all men, regardless of race or color, as it is
bound to secure other rights which are ac-
corded to them by comirion consent as nat-
ural. In this view I am very glad to find
myself sustained by some of the ablest men in
this House. Our fathers affirmed, as a self-
evident truth, that all men are endowed by
their Creator, with the right of life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness ; and that Gov-
ernments are instituted among men to secure
these rights, deriving their just powers from

50

the consent of the governed. Sir, let us not
shrink from the practical vindication of this
truth. Let us recognize no such anomaly in
our free system of government as a disfran-
chized citizen, innocent of crime, but prize
the franchise as so sacred that a man -without
it shall everwhere, and of necessity, wear the
brand of a convicted enemy of society. Let
us not preach a mere lip-democracy, while we
confess by our acts, our faith in the maxims
of despotism. Let us not, with the warnings
of the past before us, still continue to deny
the very gospel of our political salvation, and
arm the absolutists of the Old World with
weapons fatal to every just theory of republi-
canism. Let us not make enemies and out-
laws of four million people, among whom no
traitor or sympathizer with treason has ever
yet been found ; who were eagar to help us

from the very beginning of our struggle, and
as soon as we were ready gladly furnished
nearly two hundred thousand soldiers to aid
in saving the nation's life; and who, if al-
lowed justice at our hands, will be found in
the future, as they have been in the past, our
eifective auxiliaries and faithful friends. —
Above all, let us remember, for our own sake
as well as that of the colored race, that jus-
tice is omnipotent; that her demands nmst
be met to the uttermost farthing, and cannot
be slighted without offending the Most High;
and that if, when our pathway is lighted up
by the fires of a stupendous civil war, which
the whole world interprets as the avenger of
these .wronged millions, we now turn a deaf
ear to their cries, our guilt as a nation, and
our retribution, will find no precedent in the
annals of mankind.

OOJie Punishment of Jxehel Leaders,

sipeech: OIF

Hon. GEOKGE ^i. JULIAE^,

In the house OF REPRESENTATIVES, April 30th, 1866.

The House having under consideration the
following resolution:

Resolved, (as the deliberate judgnifnt of this House,)
That the speedy trial of Jetfereou Lavir!, either by a
civil or military tribunal, for the crime oV treason or
the other crimes of which he stands chxrgi'd, and his
prompt execution, if found guilty, ara Imperaiivoly
aemanded by the people of the Un"iteii States in order
that treason may be adequately branded by the nation,
traitors made iufamouB, and the repetition of their
crimes, as fur as possible, be prevented,

Mr. Julian said:

Mr. Speaker: In demanding the punish-
ment of the chief rebel conspirators, I beg
not to be misunderstood. I do not ask for
vengeance. I feel sure there is no man in
the country, however intense his loyalty, who
would inflict the slightest unnecessary suffer-
ing, or any form of cruelty, upon even the
most flagitious of the confederate leaders.
"What the nation desires, and all it asks, is
the ordinary administration of justice against
the most extraordinary national criminals
The treason spun from their brains, and de-
liberately fashioned into the bloody warp and
woof of a four years' war, and the winding-
sheet of a half million of men, ought to be
branded by the nation as a crime. It ought
to be made " odious" and " infamous." The
punishment of that crime, prescribed by the
Constitution, is death ; and I am just as un-
willing to see the Constitution set aside and
made void in this respect, in the interest of
vanquished rebel leaders, as I was to see it
trampled under foot by their armed legions
while the war continued. Indeed, the punish-
ment of these leaders is a necessary part of
the logic of their infernal enterprise, and
without it the rebellion itself, instead of being
effectually crushed, must find a fresh incentive
to renew its life in its impunity from the just
consequences of its guilt. It will not do to
say these leaders have been sufiiciently
punished already, by the failure of their
treason, the loss of their coveted power, and
their humiliation, poverty, and disgrace.
Kindred arguments would empty our jails
and penitentiaries, and make the administra-
tion of criminal justice everywhere a farce.
The way of all transgressors is hard ; but this
hardship cannot justify society in failing to
protect itself by iitly chastising its enemies.
Justice to the nation whose life has been at-
tempted, and to the assassins who made the
attempt, is the great demand of the hour.

And here, again, Mr. Speaker, I hope I
shall be understood. In pleading for justice
I mean of course public justice, which seeks
the prevention of crime by making an ex-
ample of the criminal. Human laws do not
pretend to fathom the real moral guilt of of-
fenders. They have no power to do this.
Their sole aim is the prevention of crime.
They have nothing to do with that retributive
justice which graduates the punishment of
each transgressor by the exact measure of his
guilt. To the great Searcher of all hearts
belongs this prerogative, while society, acting
through Government as its agent, and having
an eye single to its own protection, must deal
with its criminals. This, sir, is my reply to
the plea often urged that we should not hang
the rebel leaders, because we can not also
hang the leading sympathizers of the north-
ern States who are perhaps more guilty. The
Government has nothing to do with the ques-
tion of degrees of moral guilt or blameworthi-
ness, either in the North or the South. Its
concern is with the nation's enemies, whose
overt acts of treason have made them amen-
able to the laws, and whose punishment
should be made a terror to evil doers here-
after. The fact that our power of punishment
can not reach all who are guilty, including
many men in the loyal States who richly deserve
the halter, is no reason whatever for allowing
those to go un whipped who are properly within
the reach of public justice.

And the same reasoning applies to the
argument sometimes urged against all punish-
ment, founded on the numbers who would
fairly be liable to sufler. The question is
frequently asked, would you build a gallows
in every village and neighborhood of the
South? "Would you shock the Christian
world by the spectacle of ten thousand gib-
bets, and the hanging of all who have been
guilty of treason, or even a respectable frac-
tion of their number ? I answer, I would do
no such thing. Public justice and the highest
good of the State do not lequire it. I would
simply apply the ordinary rules of criminal
jurisprudence to the question, and as in other
conspiracies, so in this grand one, I would
mete out the severest punishment to the ring-
leaders. Most undoubtedly I would give
them a constitutional entertainment on the
gallows; or should the number of ringleaders
be too great, or the guilt of some of tliem be

r-,9.

less flagrant fhan others, perpetual exile might
"be substituted. The rebel masses, both on the
score of their numbers and their qualiticd
guilt, should have a general amnesty ; but by
no possible means would I spare the un-
matched villains who conceived the bloody
project of national dismemberment, and by
their devilish arts lured into their horrid
service the ignorant and misguided people of
their section. Whoever may escape justice,
either North or South, or whatever embar-
rassments may belong to the problem of
punishment at the end of this stupendous
conflict, nothing remains so perfectly clear
and unquestionable as tiie duty of the nation
to execute the great malefactors who fashioned
to their uses all the genius and resources of
the South, and throughout the entire struggle
invoked all the powers of hell in their work of
national destruction.

Mr. Speaker, the adequate punishment of
the rebel leaders involves the whole question
of the rebellion itself. It is not a matter
which the Government may dispose of indif-
ferently, but is vital to the nation's peace, if
not to its very existence. To trifle with it is
to trifle with public justice and the holy cause
for which the country has been made to bleed
and suff"er. It is to mock our dead heroes,
and confess our own pusillanimity or guilt.
It is to make treason respectable, and put
loyalty under the ban. It is to call evil good
and good evil ; and since God is not to be
mocked, it must in some form bring down
upon our own heads the retribution which we
may only escape by enforcing the penal laws
of the nation against the magnificent felons
who have sought its life.

Sir, I shall take it for granted that treason
is a crime, and not a mere accident or mis-
take. In this most frightful and desolating
struggle there is transcendent and unutter-
able guilt ; and I take it for granted that that
guilt is on the side of those who wantonly
and causelessly took up arms against the
nation, and not on the side of those who
fought to save it from destruction. Treason
is a crime, and therefore not a merediflerence
of opinion ; a crime, and therefore not an
honest mistake of judgment about the right
of a State to secede ; a crime, and therefore
not a mere struggle of the South for inde-
pendence while the North contended for
empire; a crime, and thereibre not a mere
"misapprehension of misguided men," as
some of our copperhead journals aflSrm; a
crime, and the highest of all crimes, including
all lesser villainies, and eclipsing them all, in
its heaven-daring leap at the nation's throat ;
and therefore those who withstood it by arms
■were patriots and heroes, fighting for na-
tionality and freedom, against rebels whose
^Burc and swift punishment .should be made
a ■warning against the repetition of their deeds.
Mr. Speaker, if a man were to come into
our midst and persuade us that treason and
loyalty are about the same thing ; that right
and wrong, good and evil, virtue and vice, are

convertible terms; that God and Satan are
in fact the same personage, under difl'erent
names, and that it matters little under whose
banner we fight ; and if he could thus enlist
us in the w^ork of uprooting the loundations
of Government, of morals, of society, of
everything held sacred among men, would he
not be the most execrable creature in the
universe? If he could indoctrinate mankind
with his theory of "reconstruction," would
not this beautiful earth of ours be converted
into a first-class hell, with the devil as its
king? Sir, you dare not trifle with this
question of the punishment of traitors. The-
ory goes before practice. Eight believing, on
moral or political issues, precedes right act-
ing ; and you touch the very marrow of the
rebellion when you approach the question of
the punishment of the rebels. Sir, there is
not a State in this Union, nor a civilized
country on earth, which in the treatment of
its criminals sanctions the sickly magnanimity
and misapplied humanity of this nation in
dealing with its leading traitors. No civil-
ized Government, in my judgment, could
possibly be maintained on any such loose and
confounded principles. Crime would have
unchecked license, and public justice would
not even be a decent sham. No man will
dispute this, or fail to be amazed that, in
dealing with our red-handed traitors, whose
crimes arc certainly unsurpas.sed in history,
and have filled the land with sorrow and
blood, we utterly decline to execute against
them the very Constitution which they sought
to overturn by years of wholesale rapine and
murder.

Sir, this fact is at once monstrous and
startling. We seize the murderer who only
takes the life of one man, indict him, convict
him, and then hang him. Undoubtedly some
murderers escape punishment through par-
dons and otherwise, but certainly the penalty
of death is inflicted in most countries. The
pirate, who boards a vessel on the sea, and
murders a few sailors, is " chased by the
civilized world to the gallows." The plea in
his behalf of magnanimity to a vanquished
criminal would not save him, and his friends
would scarcely urge it. Public justice de-
mands the sacrifice of his life, and no one
expects him to be spared if fairly convicted.
But Jeflerson Davis is no ordinary assassin or
pirate. He did not murder a single citizen,
but hundreds of thousands of men. He did
not board a ship on the sea and murder a few
sailors, but he boarded the great ship of state,
and tried, by all the power of his evil genius,
to sink her, cargo and crew, with the hopes of
the world forever, into the abyss of eternal
night. And is not his guilt as much greater
than that of an ordinary assassin or pirate as
th« life of a great republic is greater than the
life of one man? Was not each one of these
leaders a national assasin, aiming his bloody
dagger at the country's vitals, and is not his
guilt multiplied by the millions whose inter-
ests were imperiled? And shall justice only

53

be defied by the world's grandest villains and
outlaws, and mercy defile herself by taking
them into her embrace ?

Mr. Speaker, Jefferson Davis was a favored
child of the Kepublic. He had been educated
at the nation's expense, and upon him had
been lavished the honors and emolii;i.ents of
office. He owed his country nothing but
gratitude and fidelity, and no man understood
these obligations better than himself. Again
and again he had asked his Maker to witness
that he would be faithful to the Constitution,
which at the time he was plotting to destroy.
Long years before the rebellion he had been
inoculating the public opinion of the South
with the poison of his heresies, and secretly
hatching his treason in the foul atmosphere
which lie helped to create. His perfidy was
most cold-blooded, deliberate, and premedi-
tated. In order to blast the Government of
his fathers, and establish upon its ruins a con-
federacy with slavery as its corner-stone, he
has ruthlessly wrapped his country in fire
and blood. He has wantonly destroyed the
lives of more than two hundred and fifty
thousand soldiers, who gloriously perished in
resisting his treason in arms. He has maimed
and crippled for life more than two hundred
and fifty thousand more. He has duplicated
these atrocities in his own section of the
Union. He has organized grand conspiracies
in the North and Northwest to lay in rapine
and blood the towns and cities and plantations
of the whole loyal portion of the land. He
has put to death, by the slow torture of star-
vation in rebel prisons, sixty thousand brave
men who went forth to peril their lives in
saving the country from his devilish crusade
against it. He has deliberately sought to
introduce into the United States and to na-
tionalize among us pestilence, in the form of
yellow-fever ; an enterprise which, had it
succeeded, would have startled the very
heavens above us wi^h the agony and sorrow
it would have lavished upon the land. He
stands charged by the Government with the
murder of the President of the United States,
and that charge, as I am well assured, is
amply verified by proofs which will very
soon be given to the public, and awaken a
stronger and sterner demand for his punish-
ment. He has instigated the burning of our
hotels. He has planted infernal machines in
the tracks of his armies. He has poisoned
our wells. He has murdered our wounded
soldiers. He has made drinking cups of
their skulls and jewelry of their bones. He
has spawned upon the world atrocities so
monstrous as to defy all definition, and which
nothing but the hot incubation of the slave
power, as the ripe fruit of its two hundred
years of diabolism, could have warmed into
life. Sir, he has done every thing, by the
help of his confederates, that an incarnate
demon could do to let loose " the whole con-
tagion of hell," aud convert his native land
into one grand refuge of devils.

Mr. Speaker, the pardon of a criminal so

strongly partaking of treason against the
nation. It would be at once a monstrous
denial and a frightful mockery of justice.
Do you plead for mercy to the great con-
federate assassin? I refer that plea to the
Father of Mercies, who, I believe, only
pardons on condition of repentance ; and as
yet I have heard of no rebel leader who even
professes penitence for his crimes. Sir, I
repudiate, as counterfeit, the mercy which can
only be exercised by trampling justice under
our feet, while it forgets both justice and
mercy to the millions who have been made to
mourn through striclcen lives by the human
monsters who plunged our peaceful country
into war. The loyal people of the nation
demand that they be dealt with as criminals.
For myself, I would not have a civil trial for
the leader of a belligerent power, which has
maintained a public war against us for years.
The nation can not afford to submit the ques-
tion of the right of a State to secede to a jury
of twelve men in one of the rebel States, and
a majority of them traitors, under an implied
alternative that if they fail to convict, the
Government itself would stand convicted of
half a million of murders. After the nation
has established its right to exist by a four
years' war, it can not put that right on trial
by a jury of its conquered enemies, or any
earthly tribunal. Sir, let Jefferson Davis be
tried by a military court, as he should have
been, promptly, at the time other and smaller
offenders were dealt with a year ago. Let
hitn have the compliment of a formal inquiry
to determine what the whole Avorld already
knows, that he is immeasurably guilty. And
when that guilt is pronounced let the Govern-
ment erect a gallows, and hang him in the
name of the Most High. I put aside mercy
on the one hand, and vengeance on the other,
and the simple claim I assert, in the nation's
behalf, is justice. In the name of half a
million soldiers who have gone before their
Maker as witnesses against " the deep damna-
tion of their taking ofi';'' ii^ the name of our
living soldiers, who have waded through seas
of fire in deadily confli'ct with rebels in arras;
in the name of the Republic, whose life has
only been saved bj^ the precious offering of
multitudes of her most idolized children; in
the name of the great future, with its pro-
cession of countless generations of men, whose
fate to-day swings in the balance, awaiting
the example you are to make of treason, I
demand the execution of Jefferson Davis.
The gallows is the symbol of infamy through-
out the civilized world, and no criminal ever
earned a clearer right to be crowned with its
honors.

Sir, I ask why the Constitution should be
mocked when it demands his life? What
right have the authorities of the Government
to cheat the halter out of his neck ? Not for
all the honors and offices of this nation, not
for all the gold and glory of the world, would
I spare him if in my power; for I would ex-
pect the ghosts of three hundred thousand

transccndently guilty -would be an act in itself j murdered soldiers to haunt my poor, cowardly

54

life to tlie grave. As I havo said already, the
punishment of the rebel conspirators is a ne-
cessary part of the work of suppressing the
rebellion. Their treason was deliberately
aimed at the cause of free government on
cartli, and thoy are justly to be classed among
the guiltiest wretches whose crimes ever
drenched the earth in blood. Every one of
them should have a felon's death. The grave
of every one of them should bo made a grave
of infamy, and the cause they served should
be pilloried by all the ages to come. Sir, if
you discharge the confederate chiefs because
of the very magnitude of their work of car-
nage, you offer a public license to treason
hereafter. You say to turbulent and sedi-
tious spirits every where that they have full
liberty, when it may suit their convenience,
to levy war aginst the nation, and that while
it may lead their deluded followers to whole-
sale slaughter, ihey shall be allowed to escape.
You say that although the nation participa-
ted in the hanging of John Brown as a trai-
tor, for the crime of loving libertj^ " not wisely,
but too well," that same nation, which has
copied John Brown's example in emancipat-
ing slaves by militarj' power, shall turn loose
upon society the hideous monster who waged
war to establish and eternize a mighty slave
empire on the ruins of our free institutions.
And you speak it in the ear of the nation as
3'our deliberate estimate of the value of free
government, whose very life is the breath of
the people, that the bloody conspirator who
.seeks to destroy it by the hand of war is un-
deserving of punishment, and consequently
innocent of crime.

Mr. Speaker, can we, dare we, hope for the
favor of God in thus confounding the distinc-
tion between right and wrong, between trea-
son and loyalty, and forgetting that govern-
ment is a divine ordinance, Avhose authority
can only be maintained by enforcing obedi-
ence to its mandates ? I speak earnestly, be-
cause I feel deeply, on this question of the
punishment of leading traitors. The grand
peril of the hour comes from the mistake of
the Government on this point. During the
war our deserters and bounty jumpers were
executed. Our brave boys, overcome by wea-
riness, who fell asleep at their posts as senti-
nels, were shot. A year ago the miserable
tools of Davis and Lee, selected for their in-
fernal deeds because of their known fitness to
perform them, were suumarily tried and
hung. But in no solitary instance has trea-
son yet been dealt with as a crime. Pardon,
pardon, pardon, has been the order of the day,
as if the Government desired to make haste to
apologize for its mistake in lighting traitors,
and wished to reinstate itself in their good
opinion. Beccaria, in his celebrated Essay on
Crimes and Punishments, says that "clemency
is a virtue which belongs to the legislator,
;;nd not to the executor of the laws ; a virtue
which ought to shine in the code, and not in
private judgment. To show mankind that
crimes are sometimes pardoned, and that pun- I
ishment is not the necessary consequence, \% I

to nourish the flattering hope of impunity,
and is the cause of their considering every
punishment inflicted as an act of injustice
and oppression. The prince, in pardoning,
gives up the public security in favor of an in-
dividual, and b}' ill-judged benevolence pro-
claims a public a?t of impunity."

Dr. Lieber says that " every pardon granted
upon insufficient grounds becomes a serious
offence against society, and he that grants it
is, in justice, answerable for the offences which
tlie offender may commit, and the general
injury done to political morality by undue
interference with the law." With these wise
and just sentiments the President of the Uni-
ted States, on acceping his high office, per-
fectly agreed. He declared that mercy to the
individual is often cruelty to the State. He
said that "robbery is a crime, murder is a
crime, treason is a crime, and crime must be
punished." He said that " treason must be
made odious and traitors impoverished," and
he reiterated and multiplied these declara-
tions on very many occasions which were of-
fered him for weeks and months following his
inauguration. He repeatedly referred, appro-
vingly, to his past record, covering declara-
tions in favor of hanging leading traitors, in
favor of dividing up their great plantations
into small farms for honest and industrious
men, without regard to color, and in favor of
breaking up the great aristocracy of the South,
and compelling the rebels to " take the back
seats in the work of reconstruction." For a
season the whole loyal country was electrified
by the clear ring of his words, while rebels
were as completely palsied and dumb. They
understood the new President quite as little
as his loyal friends. They expected no quar-
ter, and studiously sought their pleasure in
the will of the Executive. They would have
assented glrtdly to anj^ terms or conditions of
reconstruction dictated by him, including
even negro suffrage. Having staked all on
the issues of war and lost, they felt that they
were entitled only to such rights as the con-
queror might see fit to impose.

Sir, this golden season was sinned aAvay by
the President, and that systematic recreancy
to his pledges and record which has marked
his subsequent career, has brought the country
into the most fearful peril. The responsibil-
ity is upon him, and it must be measured by
the magnificent opportunity which the situa-
tion afforded him for an easy solution of our
national difficulties, and at the same time a
solid and permanent reconstruction of the
South. "No important political movement,"
says a famous English writer, "was ever ob-
tained in a period of tranquillity. If the
effervescence of the public mind is suffered to
pass away without etroct, it would be absurd to
expect from languor what enthusiasm has not
obtained. If radical reform is not, at such a
moment, procured, all partial changes are
evaded and defeated in the tranquility which
succeeds." These are suggestive and solemn
words, and the reflection is a very sad on.i
that the nation to day would have been saved

55

and blest, if the President had heeded them.
He disobeyed the divine command to " exe-
cute justice in the morning," and did not
even remember the heathen maxim, that "the
gods themselves cannot save those who neg-
lect opportunities."

Sir, while I dislike the occupation of an
alarmist, I must say that I have seen few
darker seasons than the present since the first
battle of Bull Kun. The President has not
kept the faith. He has not favored the hang-
ing of a siaigle rebel leader. He has not made
treason infamous, nor impoverished traitors.
He has not favored the confiscation of rebel
estates and their distribution among the poor.
He has not required traitors to take the back
seats in the work of reconstruction. He has
not co-operated with Congress in placing the
governing power of the South and of the na-
tion in the hands of loyal men. He has not
■ shown himself the " Moses" of our loyal col-
ored millions in leading them out of their
grievous bondage. He has done the opposite
of all these. The Kichmond Times, the lead-
ing organ of treason in Virginia, says that
" in his course towards the mass of those who
supported the southern confederacy the Presi-
dent has been singularly magnanimous and
wisely lenient. Nine tenths of those who for
four years with unparalleled gallantry upheld
the confederacy, have long since been uncon-
ditionally pardoned. The cabinet oflicers
who counseled the president of the confeder-
acy, the congressmen who enacted those strin-
gent conscript and imprisonment laws which
kept up our armies, and many distinguished
generals of the confederate armies, have ei-
ther been formaly pardoned, or been released
upon parole, and no one dreams that they will
ever be molested in person or estate. The
military bastiles of the country, with one ex-
ception, have long since been thrown open,
and the distinguished confederate officers who
were confined in them have been restored to
their friends and families." And these Vir-
ginia traitors who thus damn our President
by their encomiums openly demand the uncon-
ditional release of Jcfl'erson Davis from prison.
Judging the President by the logic of his pol-
icy thus far, the demand will be complied
with. When he decided, nearly a year ago,
against the trial of Davis by a military court,
he virtually decided that his treason should
go unpunished; for no jury of southern reb-
els would ever find a vei'dict of guilty, and
the trial itself would only be an insult to the
nation. Jeflerson Davis, I doubt not is to be
restored to his family and friends, and the
argument of consistency demands it at the
hands of the President.

Robert E. Lee, whose spared life has out-
raged the honest claims of the gallows ever
since his surrender, is running at large, per-
fectly unmolested and saftf from all harm.
Black with treason, perjury, and murder,
guiltier by far than the Christless wretch
who obeyed his orders in starving our soldiers
at Andersonville, he goes his way in peace,
while the Government, in this monstrous and

appaling fact, con fesses to the world that
treason is unworthy of its notice. He is pres-
ident of a Virginia college, and teacher of her
youth. He visits Washington, and tenders
his advice to our public men about the work
of restoring the Union. He goes before the
reconstruction committee and gives his testi-
mony, as if an oath could take any possible
hold upon his seared conscience; and all that
can be said is, that his unpunished crimes are
doing precisely as much to make the Govern-
ment infamous as the Government itself has
done to make those crimes respectable. The
Legislature of Virginia endorses him as a fit
man for Governor, and the champions of this
proposition visit our Republican President,
laud his principles and policy, and take the
front seats in the house of his friends.

The vice president of the southern confed-
eracy is likewise at large, and has been elec-
ted a Senator in Congress from his State. He
also visits Washington, and gives his testi-
mony before the joint committee of fifteen.
Like the other leading traitors, he very nat-
urally "accepts the situation," because he
could not do otherwise, but he shows not the
smallest token of penitence; says the rebels
were in the right, and seems wholly uncon-
scious of his real character as simply an un-
hung traitor, whose advice and opinions we
shall only accept at their value. Leading
traitors are not only pardoned by wholesale,
but they hold nearly all the places of power
and profit in the South. They are made
Governors, judges, postmasters, revenue offi-
cers, and are likewise frequently chosen to
represent their cause in Congress ; and the
President, our distinguished Secretary of the
Treasury, and the Postmaster General, have
all openly trampled under their feet the laAV
of Congress requiring a test oath, in order
that the rebels might fill these offices, and on
the false pretence that loyal men could not be
found qualified to fill them in a country which
furnished more than forty thousand loyal
white soldiers during the war. As might
naturally be expected under this system of
reconstruction, loyal men are more unsafe in
the revolted districts noAV than they were be-
fore the war, while the condition of the negroes
in very many localities is more pitiably deplo-
rable than that of their former slavery. So
intense and wide spread is the feeling of hos-
tility to the Union in these regions, that loy-
alty is branded as both a crinje and a disgrace,
while even Wilkes Booth is regarded as a mar-
tyr, and his pictures hang in the parlors of
"southern gentlemen," whose children are
called by his name.

Nor am I surprised at the audacity of the
rebel leaders. Neither do I complain, or
blame them. They do not disguise their real
character and opinions, because they have
been made sure of the executive favor. With
the President resolutely on the side of Con-
gress in this crisis, a very different exhibition
of feeling and policy would have been devel-
oped in the South. The danger now at our
doors would never have appeared. The pros-

56

pect of another bloody war to complete the
work which we supposed already accomplished
would never have alarmed the country. The
President has deserted the loyal millions who
crursed the rebel cause at the end of a c(mflict
of four years, and joined himself to that very
cause which is now borrowing new life from
the fertilizing sunshine of his favor, re-assert-
ing its old heresies, and renewing its treasona-
ble demands. This is at once the root and
source of our present national troubles, the
prophecy and parent of whatever calamity
may come. The President not only opposes
the will of the nation, the foVicy of the na-
tion, as exj)ressed through Congress, but he
brands as traitors before a rebel mob leading
and representative men in both Houses, who
are as guiltless of treason as the great majority
with whom they act. Not content with the
good fellowship of the men who began the
war and fought us with matchless desperation
to the end, he unites with them in branding
loyalty itself as treason, whi^e he employs the
power and patronage of his high office in re-
warding his minions, and opposing the very
men who made hiui their standard bearer
along with Abraham Lincoln, in the faith
that his loyalty was unselfish and sincere. In
fact, every phase of the presidential policy, as
latterly displayed, confounds the difierence
between loyal and disloyal men, and gives
aid and comfort to the rebels by mitigating
or removing the just consequence of their
crimes.

Mr. Speaker, thispolicy, utterly fatal to the
nation's peace, as I have shown, must be aban-
doned. The Government cannot wholly undo
the mistakes of the past, but it can do much
for the future, and save the loyal cause, if the
people, who see the threatened danger, will
set themselves to work so resolutely as to
compel a change. In God's name, let this be
done. Let the people speak, for the power is
in their hands, and if faithful now, as they
proved themselves during the war, justice will
prevail. Let them thunder it in the ears of
the President that the nation cannot be saved
nor the fruits of our victory gathered, if in
the settlement of this bloody conflict with
treason right and wrong are confounded, and

public justice trampled down. This is the
duty of the loyal millions ; and here lies the
danger of the hour. It is just as impossible
for the country to prosper if it shall sanction
the present policy of the Executive, as it is
for a man to violate a law of his physical be-
ing and escape the consequences. The de-
mands of justice are as inexorable as the
demands of natural law in the material world;
and the moral distinctions which God himself
has established cannot be slighted with the
least possible impunity by individuals or na-
tions. There is a difference, heaven-wide,
between fighting for a slave empire and fight-
ing for freedom and the universal rights of
man. The cause of treason and the cause of
loyalty are not the same. Perjury is not as
honorable as keeping a man's oath. The
black flag of slavery and treason was not as
noble a standard to follow as that of the stars
and stripes. The leading traitors of the South
should not have the same honorable treat-
ment and recognition as the patriot heroes of
the Union. Ihe grandest assassins and cut
throats of history should not defraud the gal-
lows, while ordinary murderers are hung.
Jefferson Davis should not have the same
honorable place in history as George "Wash-
ington. Benedict Arnold was not the heau
ideal of a patriot, nor was Judas Iscariot " a
high-sovxled gentleman and a man of honor,"
nor even a misguided citizen of his country
who engaged in a mistaken cause." The
green mounds under which sleep our slaught-
ered heroes are not to have any moral com-
parison with the graves of traitors. The
"throng of dead, leadby Stonewall Jackson,"
are not to contribute equally with the noble
spirits of the North to the renown of our
great Eepublic." Truth and falsehood, right
and wrong, heaven and hell, are not mere
names which signify nothing, but they per-
tain to the great veracities of the universe ;
and the throne of God itself is immovable,
only because its foundations are justice.

Mr. Speaker, I now move that this resolu-
tion be referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.

The motion was agreed to.

Madicalism the Nation'' s Hojfe,

si^eeich: OIF"
Hon. GEOEGE W. JTJLIAI^,

In the house OF EEPEESENTATIVES, June 16, 1866.

The House, according to previous order, hav-
ing wider consideration tlie President's message,
as in Committee of the Whole —

Mr. Julian said :

Mr. Speaker: The conflict going on to-day
between Coubicrvatism and Radicalism is not a
new one. It only presents new phases, and
more decided characteristics in its progress to-
ward a final settlement. These elements in our
political life were at war long years prior to the
late rebellion. After the old questions concern-
ing trade, currency, and the i)ublic lands, had
ceased to be the pivots on which our national
policy turned, and were only nominally in dis-
pute. Conservatism put them on its banner, and
shouted for them as the living issues of the times,
while intelligent men everywhere saw that the
real and sole controversy was that very ques-
tion of slavery whicli the leaders of party were
striving so anxiously to keep out of sight. Con-
servatism stubbornly closed its eyes to this truth.
Ifit ever took the form of Radicalism it was in
denouncing tlie agitation of the subject. It be-
lieved in conciliation and concession. It preach-
ed the gospel of compromise. Professing hostili-
ty to slavery, it paraded its readiness to yield
up its convictions as a virtue. Resistance^ to
aggression and wrong it branded as fanaticism
or wickedness, while it was ever ready to pur-
chase peace at the cost of principle. This policy
of studiously deferring to the demands of arro-
gance and insolence, this dominating love of
peace and cowardly dread of conflict, this yield-
ing, and yielding, ahd yielding to the exactions
ofthe slave interest, naturally enough fed and
pampered its spirit of rapacity, and at last arm-
ed it with the weapDUs of civil war. Such will
be the unquestioned and unquestionable record
of history; and no riH'ord could be more blast-
ing, as it will be read in the clear light of the
future. To us belongs the privilege of taking
counsel from the lesson in dealing with the yet
unsettled problems of the crisis.

But Radicalism assumed a directly anta^-onis-
tic position. It did not believe in conciliation
and compromise. It did not believe that a pow-
erful and steadily advancing evil was to be mas-
tered by submiss'iou to its behests, but by time-
ly and resolute resistance. The Radicals, under
whatever peculiar banner they rallied, thought
it was their duty to take time by the forelock;
and with prophetic ears they heard the footfalls
of civil war in the distance, forewarned the
country of its danger, and pointed out the way
of deliverance. In the ages to come Freedom
will remember and cherish them as her most
precious jewels; for had they been seconded in
their earnest eflbrts to rouse "the people and to

lay hold of the aggressions of slavery in their in'
cipient stages, the black tide of southern domi"
nation which has since inundated the land
might have been rolled back, and the Republic
saved without the frightful surgery of war.
This exalteil tribute to their sagacity and their
fidelity to their country will be the sure award
of history; and its lesson, like that of Conserva-
tism, commends itself to our study.

But the war at length came, and with it came
the same conflict between Conservatism on the
one hand and Radicalism on the other. Their
antagonisms pnt on new shapes, but were as
perfectly defined as before. The prcJof of this is
supplied by facts so well known, and so painful-
ly remembered by all loyal men, that I need
scarcely refer to them. Conservatism, in its un-
exampled stupidity, denied that rebels in arms
against the Government were its enemies, and
declared them to be only misguided friends.
The counsel it perpetually volunteered was that
of great moderation and forbearance on our part
in the conduct of the war. It denied that slav-
ery caused the war, or should in any way be af-
fected by it. It insisted that slavery and free-
dom were "twin sisters of the Constitution,"
equally sacred in its sight, and equally to be
guarded and defended at all hazards. Its owl-
ish vision failed to see that two civilizations had
met in the shock of deadly conflict, and that sla-
very at last must perish. "Even down to the very
close of the conflict, when the dullest minds
could see the new heavens and the new earth
which the rebellion h.id ushered in. Conserva-
tism madlv insisted on "the Con. titution as it
is and the "Union as it was." Its idolized party
leaders and its great military heroes were all
men who believed in the divinity of slavery,
whose hearts were therefore on the side of the
rebellion, and whose management of the war
gave proof of it. And every man of ordinary
sense and intelligence knows that just so long
and so far as Conservative counsels prevailed,
defeat and disaster followed in our steps, and
that if these counsels had not been abjured the
black flag of treason would have been unfurled
over the broken columns and shattered frag-
ments of our republican edifice. Let this also
be remembered in digesting a policy for the
future.

But here, again, Radicalism squarely met the
issue tendered by the Conservatives. _ That
slavery caused the war and was necessarily in-
volved in its fortunes it accepted as a simple
truism. Its theory was that the rebellion ^^1as
slavery, in arms against the nation, and that to
strike'it was to strike treason, and to spare it
was to espouse the cause of the rebels. In the
very beginning of the conflict Radicalism com-

68

prehoncled the situation aiul the duty. It under-
stood the contlict as not simi)ly a stru,t!:gfle to save
the Union, but a grand and final battle for the
rifihts of man, now and hereafter; and it believ-
ed that God would never smile iipon our endea-
vors till we aceeptcd it as sueh. Ridicalistn,
therefore, demanded the repeal of all laws which
had been enacted to uphold and fortify shivery.
It demanded the armini? of the slaves against
their old tyrants. It demanded emancipation
as a moral and a military necessity, and a poli-
cy of the war so broadly and systematically anti-
slavery as to meet the rebel power in the full
sweep of its remorseless crusade against us. Its
trust was in the justice of our cause and the
favor of the Almighty; and just so soon as the
Government turned away from its Conservati^'e
friends and joined hands with Radicalism, our
arms were crowned with victories, which follow-
ed each other till the rebel power lay prostrate
at our feet.

But, Mr. Speaker, the war is over. So at least
we are informed by the President; and with the
glad return of peace comes once more the same
issvie between Conservatism and Radicalism,
and more clearly marked than ever before. Con-
servatism, true to the logic which made it the
ally and handmaid of treason all through the
war, now demands the indiscriminate pardon of
all the rebel leaders. It recognizes the revolted
States as still in the Union, in precisely the same
sense as are the loyal States, and restored to all
their rights.as completely as if no rebellion had
happened. It opposes any constitutional amend-
ment which shall deprive the rebels of the re-
presentation of the freedmen in Congress, who
have no voice as citizens, and thus sanctions this
most flagrant outrage upon justice and demo-
cratic e(iuality, in the interest of unrepentant
traitors. It opposes the protection of the mil-
lions of loyal colored people of the South through
the agency of a Freedmen's Bureau, and thus
hands them over to starvation, and scourgings,
and torture, by their former masters. It oppo-
ses, likewise, the civil rights hill, which seeks to
protect these people in their right to sue, to tes-
tify in the courts, to make contracts, and to own
property. It opposes, of course, with all bitter-
ness, the policy of giving the freedmen the bal-
lot, which '• is as just a demand as governed men
ever made of governing,'' and should be accord-
ed at once, both on the score of policy and jus-
tice. In short, it seeks to make void and of non-
effect, for any good purpose, the sacrifice of more
than three hundred thousand lives and three
thousand millions of money, by its eager service
ofllie heaven-defying villains who causelessly
brought this sacrifici? upon the nation.

But on all thesepoints Radicalism takes issue.
It holds that treason is a crime, and that it ought
to lie punished. "While it does not ask for ven-
geance, it demands public justice against some
at least of the rebel leaders. It deals with the
revolted States as outside of their constitutional
relations to the Union, and as incapable of re-
storing themselves to it except on conditions to
be prescribed by Congress. It demands the im-
mediate reduction of representation in the States
of the South tothe basis of actual voters, and the
amedcment of the Constitution for that purpose.
It favors the protection of the colored [jeople of
the South, through the Freedmen's Bureau and
civil rights bills, as necessary to make effective
theconstitutional amendment abolishing slavery
And for the same reason. Radicalism, when not
smitten by unn:itural fear or afflicted by policy,
demands the billot as the right of every colored
citizen of the rebellious States. Sueh have l)een
the issues between Conservatism and Radical-

ism, some of which are disposed of by time; and
they are all in facts f ide issues, save the grand
and all-comprehending one of suftYage. Let this
De settled in harmony with our democratic in-
stitutions and all else will be added.

And in dealing with this problem, Mr. Speak-
er, whose counsel shall we follow? Shall we be
guided by Conservatism, which paved the way
for the rebellion by its policy of concession and
compromise, which would have handed the
country over to the rebels when the war was
upon us if its policy had been adhered to, and
to-day would give to the winds the fruits of our
victory? Or shall our guide be that same Rad-
icalism which would have averted the rebellion
if its counsel had been heeded, which alone sav-
ed us when war came, ancf now asks us to ac-
cept its inevitable logic in seeking a true basis
of peace? Can a loyal man hesitate in his an-
swer? Sir, we can neither stand still nor take
any backward step. For myself, at least, I shall
])ress right on; and my strong faith is that the
loyal people of the country will not madly at-
tempt a halt in that grand march of events
through whicn the hand of Providence is so visi-
bly guiding the nation to liberty and lasting
peace.

Mr. Speaker, of all the questions pertaining to
the late rebellion which have been so much de-
bated, it seems to me none could be more per-
fectly simple and unembarrassed than that of
giving the ballot to the freedmen of the South.
This would be conceded at once, if it were pos-
sible to forget the institution of slavery, and the
foul legacy of prejudice and hate which it has
bequeathed to us all. I believe the present dis-
cussions of the subject, and our gingerly reluc-
tance to face the issue squarely, will hereafter
be set down among the curiosities of American
politics. Sir, what is the proposition? It is
simply to extend our democratic institutions
over the States recently in revolt, which have
been overpowered by our arms, and are now
subject to the national jurisdiction. The mass
of the whitepeopleof the South, including those
who have been in arms against the Government,
have the ballot; and there is no pending propo-
sition to deprive thoin of it. But we imagine
insuperable difficulties in the way of giving it to
the colored people, who constitute the majority
in several States, who have been uiu\ ersally
Inyal, and have furnished a strong body of sol-
diery in the war for tlie Union. Can this, in-
deed, be true?

Alexander Hamilton, in the fifty-fourth num-
ber of the Federalist, speaking of the slaves,
says : " It is admitted that if the laws were to
restore the rights which have been taken away,
the negroes could no longer be refused an equal
share of representation with the other inhabi-
tants." Most certainly he was right. Why then
shirk the question ! Would we do so if these col-
ored men were white? No man will pretend it.
Why not secure the ballot to the men who have
been restored to their lights through the trea-
son of their masters? "Liberty, or freedom,"
says Dr. Franklin, "consists inhaving an actu-
al share in the appointment of tlioso who frame the
laws and who are to be the guardians of every man's
life, propertv, and peace ; for the all of one man is
as dear to him as the all of another ; and the poor
man has an e(/ual riffht. but 7nore need, to have re-
presentatives in the Legislature than the rich one."
And he goes on to say : " That they who have no
voice nor vote in the electing of representatives do
not. enjoij liberty, but are absolutely enslaved to
those who" /ia 06 votes, and to their representatives;
for to be enslaved is to have governors whom other
men have set over us ; and bo subject to laws

59

made by the representatives of others, without
havinn; had representatives of o\v^ own to give con-
sent in o^ir behalf." This, in different words, is the
doctrine of James Otis, that " taxation without repre-
sentation is tyranny," and was the principle on which
our revolutifinary fathers planted themselves in re-
sisting British despotism. Shall we shrink from it
to-dar, when just emorfring from a frightful civil
war, caused by our infidelity to the rights of man ?
Are we still to love the rebels so tenderly that we
must not offend them by a policy of equal and exact
justice between them and the loyal men who resisted
their devilish crusade against the national life? "We
hold those truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Cre-
ator with certain inalienable rights, among which
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; and
that to secure these riglits governments are insti-
tuted among men, deriving their jnst powers from
the consent of the governed." Do we still doubt
these truths, thus named self-evident, after having
seen them written in fire and blood during the past
four years? Men talk eloquently of the natural
equality of all men, and the sovereignty of the popu-
lar will. Sir, if we are not hypocrites, why not ac-
cept these principles by reducing them to practice
everywhere throughout the Republic ? If all men
are equal in their inborn rights, every man has the
right to a voice in the governing power ; and that
right is as natural as the right to the breath of his
nostrils. It is not a privilege, but a righ ^ and you
insult republicanism and brand the preat Declara-
tion as a lie, when you dispute it. You espouse the
cause of absolutism at once : for if one portion of
the people, black or white, can deprive another of
their rights, the whole theory of American democra-
cy is overturned. That wise men, in Congress and
out of Congress, should deal with this question as a
difficult and complicated one seems incredibly
strange. The very horn-book of republicanism set-
tles it ; and if the teachings of our fathers are in
fact to be accepted, and the poisonous exhalations of
slavery shall ever be dispelled from the minds of
men, a disfranchised citizen, white or colored, inno-
cent of crime, will become an unknown anomaly.
This much I say on general principles, and wholly
aside from those considerations which plead imper-
atively for impartial suffrage in the South, on the
score of justice and gratitude to the negro, the peace
and well-being of society, and the stability of the
Union itself.

But our power over the subject of suffrage in the
States lately iu revolt is disputed ; and doubts re-
specting it are expressed even by the joint committee
of fifteen iu their elaborate and very able report just
given to the public. Sir, I never hear these opin-
ions and doubts uttered without unmingled astonish-
ment. In the whole domain of politics and jurispru-
dence a proposition cannot be found more perfectly
beyond dispute than that Congress can prescribe the
qualifications of voters in the States that rebelled
against the national authority, and have been subdu-
ed by our arms. I do not now speak of the power
conferred in the clause of the Constitution making it
the right and duty of Congress to guaranty a repulj-
lican form of government to every State ; though I
believe it clearly confers upon us the authority to
deal with the question of suffrage in all the States.
Nor do I here refer to the constitutional amendment
abolishing slavery, and giving Congress the power,
by appropriate legislation, to enforce such abolition ;
though I hold it to be perfectlj'' clear that under this
clause the power over the ballot is given, since a man
without it, according to the principles of radical de-
mocracy and the revolutionary authorities already
referred to, is a slave — the slave of society, if not the
chattel of an individual master. I waive these points,
and rest the case solely on the ground of the autho-
rity of the nation to do what it pleases v/ith rebels

whose revolt became a stupendous civil war, and
was crushed by the power of war. That, sir, js the
impregnable ground on which I stand, and I chal-
lenge all assailants. The revolt grew in its propor-
tions till it became a civil, territorial war. We
blockaded the rebel coast ; we exchanged prisoners ;
we conducted the conflict according to the laws of
war and the law of nations. The rebels became pub-
lic enemies, and by the power of our resistless hosts
we conquered them. As conquered public enemies
their rights were all swept away, all melted in the
fervent heat of their devilish tre.-ison and war. Not
a respectable jurist in the Union will dispute this
proposition, for the principles of the law of nations
which govern the conduct of a civil war, and define
the rights of the ])arties to it, are precisely those
which pertain to the conduct of a foreign war. If
this is not the settled law of nations, settled also
emphatically bv the Supreme Court of the United
States, then'uothing is settled, and nothing is capa-
ble of settlement. The report of the reconstruction
committee, already referred to, which expresses
doubt as to the power in question, asserts that " with-
in the limits prescribed by humanity the conquered
rebels were at the mercy of the conquerors. That a
Government thus outraged had a most perfect right
to exact indemnity for the injuries done and security
against the recurrence of such outrages in the future
would seem too clear for dispute. What the nature
of that security should be ; what proof should be re-
quired of a return to allegiance ; what time should
elapse before a people thus demoralized should be
restored in full to the enjoyment of political rights
and privileges, are questions for the law-making
power to decide, and that decision must depend on
grave considerations of public safety and the general
welfare." This language covers the whole ground
contended for. The power exists, and Congress
alone must determine what is demanded by " consid-
erations of the public safety and the general wel-
fare." The question before' us to-day is one of ne-
cessity and expediency, and not of power ; a question
of fact, rather than a question of law.

On this question, Mr. Speaker, I think there is
very little ground for disagreement among loyal men.
If the colored millions of the South need any earth-
ly good supremely, and need it soo", it is a share in
the governing power. Let us not mock them by the
hope of it at some time in the distant future, condi-
tioned upon alternatives which we tender to their
enemies, but grant it now, as their imperative and
instant necessity. They are at this moment pros-
trate and helpless under the heel of their old tyrants.
But for the partial succor afPirded by the Freedmen's
Bureau their condition would be far more deplorable
than that of slavery itself. Although the civil rights
bill is now the law, none of the insurgent States al-
low colored men to testify when white men are par-
ties. The bill, as I learn from General Howard, is
pronounced void by the jurists and courts of the
South. Florida makes it a misdemeanor for colored
men to carry weapons without a license to do so from
a probate judge, and the punishment of the offence
is whipping and the pillory. South Carolina has
the same enactments ; and a black man convicted of
an offence who fails immediately to pay his tine is
whipped, A magistrate may take colored children
and apprentice them for alleged misbehavior with-
out consulting then- parents. Mississippi allows no
negro living in any corporate town to lease or rent
lands. Cunning legislative devices are being invent-
ed in most of the States to restore slavery in fact.
Without the ballot in the hands of the freedmen,
local law, re-enforced by a public opinion more ram-
pant against them than ever before, will render the
civil rights bill a dead letter, and in the future, as it
has been in the past, the national authority will be
set at defiance. Even should the civil rights bill be
enforced, it would be a palliative and not a cure,

60

since the risjht to sue, to testify, to make contracts,
and to own property may be lawfully enjoyed with-
out commandinpf a "tithe of the respect with which the
ballot arms every man who wields it. This is the
sure refiipje and lielpof th ■ froedmen, and Con<;ress
has the same power to secure it that it has to with-
hold it from the rebels ; the same power to make suf-
frage impartial that it has to prescribe any other con-
dition whatever in the reconstruction of these States.
If, as is alk'<xed, im such power exists over the
loyal States, that certainly is no reason why we
should not exercise it where wc hare the power.
With the authority unquestionably in our hands to
disfranciiise all the rebels, the plan reported by the
Joint Committee leaves the ballot in their hands.
With stranije and lavish liberality even the leaders
of the rebellion are to be clothed with this sovereijin
attribute. They may not hold ofHce, but they may
confer it. The pirate Semmes shall not be probate
judpe, but his baUot shall be counted in determininor
who 'jliall fill the office, and so shall the ballots of the
traitors who recently tried to make piracy honorable
in Alabama. Genera! liCC cannot be Pr-sident of
the United States, nor Governor of Virj^nnia, but he
can march to the polls with his unhung^ confederates
as the equal before the law, and under the old
flas, of the loyalists whose valor saved the Republic.
• The k'frioris of armed traitors who fought against the
nation four years, and deluijed it in sorrow and
blood, are all to be crowned with the honor and dig-
nity of the ballot ; and, as if to make treason respec-
table and loyalty odious, the colored people of the
country, whose enslavement caused the war, and
who furnished two hundred thousand soldiers in
crushing the rebellion, are to be handed over to the
unbridled hate and fury of their old masters.

One would naturally have supposed that vanquish-
ed rebels would be glad enough to escape with their
lives, and that Congress, in conferring uuon them
the franchise, would at least atone for tiiis unlooked
for and undeserved liberality by a policy of justice,
if not of gratitu<le, toward the iiegrocs, whose loyal-
ty was never questioned, and whose strong arms
helped strike down the enemies of the nation. One
would have supposed that if any party must be dis-
franchised it would be the rebels, and that loyal men
would govern the country they had saved by their
valor. I am quite sure that neither the copperheads
nor the rebels themselves, till they were caressed by
the Executive, ever dreamed of this cougressioua"l
discrimination in favor of treason. Sir, it will glad-
den the heart of every traitor in the Union. No loyal
man can defend it with a good conscience. Its re-
creancy is aggravated by every fact which comes to
us respecting the situation in the South. The gen-
eral feeling there against the free Imen is that of in-
tense l.o utility and envenumed hate. The institution
of slaxer*', througli the instinct of a common inter-
est, accorded to tiie negro some privileges ; but now
he has literally ''no rights which white men are
bound to resfiect." Sharing no longer the measure
of consideration which pertained to his condition as
a slave, he is regarded as a despised outcast, and
treated like a dog. A feeling scarcely less intoler-
ant is evinced toward the t'nw loyal' white men in
these States, who in many localities are living in
constant drea I of violence and murder, and are fre-
quently waylaid and shot. Quite recently I have
received a letter from a gentleman of intelligence
and worth in one of the Southern States, in which he
says that he and his friends and neighbors, who have
been hunted in the mountains like deer all through
the war because they refused to take up arms agiiust
the country, having had their houses plundered or
burned, tiieir p.operty destroyed, and themselves re-
duced to begsjary, are still living in constant dread
of assassination; and he begs me, if possible, to pro-
cure for them from the Secretary of War transporta-
tion to the North. This is a single instance among

raauT of the actual condition and treatment of the
loyalists of the South, under the fiendish domination
of men who have becnironically styled ''conquered.' '
Sir, in heart and purpose they are less conquer ed
than before the war. If possible they hate the Y an-
kees, with their free schools and fi'ee institutions,
more tlian ever. I believe their wrath is more and
more a consuming fire. Down in the very dejiths of
their souls they despise the Union, its generals, its
soliliers, its statesmen, its prosperity, its peace. Up-
on the Frcedmen's Bureau and the civil rights bill
they pour out the sincerest and the most heartfelt
curses. Nut a man has been found among them wlio
does not defend the right of secession, and vindicate
the rebel cause. Tliev choose as their Senators and
Re])resentntives in Congress and for the highest
ollices in the States the most conspicuous and guilty
of their unrepentant traitor chiefs. They insult the
old flag and scoff at our national songs. They com-
memorate the deeds and honor the tombs of t heir
grandest villains, and refuse to the loyal colored
people of the South the coveted privilege of strewing
flowers over the graves of our heroes who died that
the Republic might live. They crown treason as tlifi
highest \irtue, and elevate murder to the rank of a
fine art. Their newspapers are reeking with the
foulest and most atrocious sentiments, and their man-
ifest purpose is to scatter the baleful fires of discord
and hate throughout the South. Under this new
" reign of terror," emigration to the South, which we
hoped would regenerate it, is interdicted, while tlie
loyal men already there are looking about them for
the means of speedy escape. Such is the Eden of
blessedness and beauty which has been chiefly evok-
ed by " my policy," a.nd such are the people in
whose hands Congress proposes to leave the powers
of government, while it withholds the ballot from the
only peoi)le whose redeeming agency and co-operat-
ing grace can restore order, liberty, and peace.

And these people, Mr. Speaker, who have ''refin-
ed upon villainy till it wants a name," whose hearts
are thus impregnated with the most rancorous hate
toward the freedmen, and whose ascendancy over
the South is hourly extending in all directions, are
expected to give the ballot to the negro, if only we
provide that otherwise he shall not be counted in the
basis of representation. Sir, they will do no such
thing. They would see the negro in Paradise, soon-
er than see him with the ballot in his hands. The
madness which rushed into the rebellion in the inter-
est of slavery, and which to-day, instead of being
tamed by suffering and trial, is fiercer than ever be-
fore, will never extend justice to these people. The
much-talked-of " war of races," ending in negro ex-
termination, would be far more probable. I am cer-
tainly ready to vote, as I have done, for reducing re-
presentation in the revolted States to the basis of
actual voters. No man could defend his refusal to
do so ; but I believe the rebels, with the President
at their back, will never agree to any such anumd-
ment of the Constituti.m, and that with tlieir allies in
the North they will be able to defeat it. Neither
with nor without such an amendment, therefore, in
my judgment, is there any well-grounded hope for
justice from the rebel class. The decision of the
case would require j'ears of time, since it would in-
volve the questicui whether nineteen or twenty-seven
States are required to amend the Constitution ; and
the Supreme Court could not pass upon the point
till nineteen States had ratified the amendment.
During all this time the freedmen would be conunit-
ted to the tender mercies of their enemies instead of
sharing with ;hem at once the powers of government.

Sir, why should we decline a present liuty winch
is as clear and as palpable as the sunlight ? Why
impiously propose to red-handed tiaitors and assas-
si'is that" they may trample down the precious rights
of four million helpless but loyal people, if only it
shall be agreed that these downtrodden millions shall

61

not be represented in Conojre.ss ? Why offer them a
proposition which, if accepted, mio^ht be as fatal to
the interests of the colored race as would have been
the acceptance of the offer of President Lincoln to
leave that race in bondapjc if the rebels would lay
down their arms within a stipulated time ? As I
have already shown, the power to do what wo wish
is in our hands. Conjrress can enact a statute secur-
ing impartial suffrage in all the insurgent States, in
which civil government is totally overthrown, and
over which our power is supreme. Congress can
pass enabling acts, as opportunely proposed by my
distinguished friend from Pennsylvania [Jlr. Stevens],
providing for the calling of State Conventions in
those States to form constitutions, and fixing the
qualifications of voters. Congress, if it deems it ex-
pedient, can disfranchise the rebels, or any portion
of them, and refuse admission to the rebellious States
till they have secured impartial suffrage to their peo-
ple. And finally, Congress, if constitutional amend-
ments are necessary, can propose such as will ac-
cord with justice and the rights of man, and will
therefore have the strongest pledge of their ultimate
success ; while, in the moan time, whatever obsta-
cles may be thro'vn in our way by the accic'ental oc-
cupant of the W hite House, the great cause of loy-
alty and freedom will be strengthened and fortified
by every honest and manly endeavor to serve it.

But it is said, Mr. Speaker, that the people are not
ready for so radical a policv, and that while the re-
construction of the rebel States on a solid and endur-
ing basis is very desirable, we must accept the ne-
cessity which compels us to regard the temper of
the public feeling and the practical effects upon the
harmony of the Union party which advance measures
would be likely to produce.

Sir, I defend the people against this accusation
against their intelligence and loyalty, ily own ex-
perience is that politicians are generally, if not inva-
riably, behind the people, and rather inclined to block
up the path of popular progress than to clear the
way. This was undoubtedly true during the war,
and every intelligent man can recall proofs of it in
abundance. The people were ready for a radical
policy in the first year of the conflict, as was shown
by the proclamation of General Fremont, of Septem-
ber 2, 18t)l. It was hailed with nearly universal
joy by the Republican masses, while every leadnig
Democratic paper in the country warmly approved
it. So intense and wide-sprr'ad was the feeling of
enthusiastic loyalty among the people from the firing
upon Fort Sumter down to the revocation of this
anti-slavery order, that party lines seemed utterly
forgotten, and the Democratic organization in fact
ceased to exist. Copperhead Democracy was a
sprout from the Executive edict which Kentucky
procured in the interest of slavery ; but the people,
at every stage of the conflict, received with open
arms and grateful hearts every earnest man who
came forward, and every vigorous war measure
which was proposed.

Sir, why were the Union men defeated in the fall
of 1S02? It was because the people feared that
General iMcClellan carried the Government in his
pocket, and had no faith in his conservative policy,
which bore no good fruits. The men who failed to
get back to the succeeding Congress were generally
the tiaiid men who counseled policy ; while the
Radicals who denounced McClellan, and preached
the anti-slavery gospel boldly, were successful.
Why did the Unionists sweep the country in the
next congressional elections ? It was because of
their bolder and more pronounced Radicalism.
Why have our public men failed before the people
in the political conflicts of the past twenty years ?
Not, certainly, because they outran the people in
radical progress, but because the peoi)le loved
courage, and felt that bolder leadership was de-
manded. For the truth of this I appeal to gentle-

men on this floor who have made political life a
profession, and who are most familiar with the
history of American politics.

A servant of the people needs to have faith in the
people. In dealing with a great question involving
the reconstruction of Government and regeneration
of society in nearly half the territory of the Republic,
he has no right to be " a nejzative expression, or an
unknown quantity, in the algebra which is to work
out the problem." He has no right to say that the
pecple are not ready for a given policy, if he himself
understands it, and is convinced that it is juEt and
necessary. On the contrary, he will tlnd it most
safe to accept our democratic theory, that the people
are capable of understanding their affairs, and of
managing them through honest and fearless repre-
sentatives. What our politicians most need to-day
is faith, faith in the penple, faith in justice, and
then to add to their faith courage. If the policy
you propose is right, nothing is so safe as to trust
the people ; if it is crooked, a weak and shallow ex-
pedient, a truce with justice, and not a real peace,
then nothing could be more unsafe than an appeal to
the voice of the people, which finally will be the
voice of truth.

The people, you say, are not ready for negro
ballots in the insurgent States. Sir, I would be
glad t.) have the proof of that. Since the outbreak
in 1861 they seem to have been rt-ady for whatever
has come iu the rapid and stirring march of events.
They were ready for the war, appalling as it was,
and utterly foreign to their habits and tastes. When
it came, as I have shown, they were ready for
radical measures iu its prosecution. They were
ready, or soon became ready, to arm the negroes
against their masters, and to demand the complete
enia- cipation of the millions in chains. They were
ready to sacrifice the lives of more than three hun-
dred thousand brave men to save the Republic from
dismemberment and ruin. The\^ were ready to send
sorrow into millions of households, and to entail
upon their children a weary burden of debt, in order
that freedom snculd bear rule in these States. They
were ready, when the war was ended, to demand
the just chastisement of the great national criminals
who were the instigators of the desolating conflict.
They were ready to sanction the policy of a Freed-
men's Bureau to guard and care for the men and
women made nominally free by the power of war.
They were ready to pass a constitutional amend-
ment abolishing slavery forever, and arming Con-
gress with the power, by appropriate legislation,
to make such abolition effective. They were ready
to crown the negro with the honors of a soldier of
the Republic, and ask him to help to defend it against
its assassin-, and thereby to pledge themselves
before God and man that he should thenceforward
share all the rights enjoyed by white citizens. They
were ready to say, in January la.-vt, through their
Representatives in this Hall, by a vote of 116 to 5t,
that no man under the exclusive jurisdiction of the
national Government should be deprived of the
ballot on account of race or color; and tliey have
been disappointed, I am very sure, in the long delay
of like action in the Senate. And they were ready,
speaking through overwhelming majorities in both
Houses of Congress, and in defiance of the Execu-
tive, to indorse the civil rights bill, which lacks only
one short step of reaching the ballot, and the prin-
ciples of which can only be defended by a lo"-ic
which necessitates the grant of it as the grandest
of all civil rights, and the pledge and shield of
them all.

Mr. Speaker, a people who have proved them-
selves ready for all this will be found ready to move
steadily forward towards the complete accomplish-
ment of their grand purpose. Jlost assuredly they
will not turn back, nor pause in their course. Their
schooling during the past five years has armed them

62

against fear, and the man who says they are not
reaily for all moasuros required to make good to the
nation the righteous ends of the war impeaches both
their intelligence and their patriotism. The people
are not ready 1 This is the cry which is daily rung
out hero from a chorus of voices. We ourselves
are all ready, individually, for the most radical
policy, if the country would sustain us. Impartial
suSVage is openly indorsed as the true doctrine,
whicii, in due season, tiie people will be prepared to
accept. They may be ready, we are told, after the
fall elections, and the hope is frequently expressed
that then we shall meet the issue squarely. Almost
everybody, save the most unblushing copperheads,
says that negro voting in the South is the true
reconstruction, and is absolutely necessary if the
rebels are to vote ; but the country is not ripe for it.
" Personally," as Ilenry Clay said of the annexation
of Texas,' all of us " would be glad to see it," but the
issue is premature.

Sir, gentlemen are themselves premature, in all
such statements. The people are ready, in this
battle of politics, and would gladly go to the front if
they could, leaving the politicians to struggle in the
rear. And if the voice of the loyal millions could
be faithfully executed to-day, treason would be
made infamous, traitors would be disfranchised,
and the loyal men of the South, irrespective of
color, would take the front seats in the work of re-
construction and government. Do you doubt this ?
If there is roal uuiou among Union men everywhere,
upon any single point, it is in their absolute deter-
mination to make sure the fruits of their victory,
through whatever measures may be found ueeful.
Sir, remembering the past, can any man really be-
lieve the loyal masses will take fright at the spec-
tacle of negro ballots in the regions blasted by
treason ? All civil government there is overthrown.
The President himself has so officially declared.
The governments extemporized there by himself are
purely military, and so far as they have assumed to
be more than that they are simply usurpations.
This is also perfectly understood by th« country.
The work of organizing civil governments in these
regions belongs to their people, subject entirely to
the control and direction of Congress. This, too,
has been officially admitted by the President. And
now, if Congress, at this session, should pass the
enabling act referred to, reported by the venerable
gentleman from Pennsylvani v, authorizing the hold-
ing of conventions to form new State governments,

and prescribing the same rule of impartial suffrage
as was done by this House for the District of
Columbia, would the people revolt against it Y
Would they even be offended ? Does any intelligent,
fair-minded man reallv believe it 7 The restoration
of civil government in the South is undeniably
necessary. That Congress alone, in co-operation
with the people, can do this, is equally certain.
The mode of organizing civil government in re-
gions under the national jurisdiction is perfectly
fi'.miliar to the people, and well settled by long and
uniform practice. Who, then, shall be alaimu i, if
Congress, in rightfully initiating new governments,
shall secure a voice to the colored millions who
constitute more than two fifths of the people, and an
overwhelming majority of those who are loyal ?
What Union man will recoil from a policy of im-
partial justice ? Do we still so love our " Southern
brethren" that we must necessarily give them the
ballot, and so sympathize with their tastes and
dread their ill-will that we must deny it to the
freeJmen? Are the people to be dealt with as
idiots or madmen on this subject, and counted
rational on every other ? Sir, let us put away timid
counsels, and face the truth like men. Let us be
wise to-day. Let us have faith in the sturdy com-
mon sense and unquenchable loyalty and patriotism
of the people, as becomes these who have seen them
confront the greatest of trials, and never yet found
them wanting. Let us not doubt, for a moment,
that they will sustain us, if we ourselves have the
courage which " mounteth with occasion," and will
only " dare do all that may become a man." Above
all, let us remember that Providential guidance
which in our trials hitherto has favored us exactly
in the degree we have allied our cause to justice,
and withheld Irom us the coveted prize of success
as often as we have sought it at the expense of the
rights of man. That same Providential discipline
will most assuredly go with us to the end, whether
we bravely meet the great duties of the crisis or
prove ourselves unequal to our day and our work.
Nothing, therefore, is so safe, and so sure to win,
as the policy which shall make tbis truth our guide.
God give us faith in His counsels, and courage to
follow them ! And let us not forget that —

" The wise and active conquer difHculties
By daring to attempt thorn ; sloth and folly
Shiver kuiI shrink at sight of trial and hazard,
And iniike the impossibility they fear."

Regeneration hefore Iteconstruction,

sipeeoh: OIF

Hon. aEOEGE W. JULIAN,

Ik the house OF KEPEESENTATIVES, January 28th, 1857.

The House having under consideration
House bill No. 543, to restore to the States
lately in rebellion their political rights, and
the amendment thereto proposed by Mr.
Stevens —

Mr. Julian said :

Mr. Speaker : In view of the time already
consumed in the discussion of the measure now
before us, and the general desire of members
to reach an early vote on the pending motion
to commit, I shall endeavor to address the
House as briefly as possible ; and I therefore
prefer, on this occasion, to submit my views
without interruption. I cannot support the
amendment proposed by the gentleman from
Pennsylvaraa (Mr. Stevens) in its present
form; but I shall not vote to send it to the
Committee on Reconstruction at this late hour
in the session. I believe the time has come
for action, and that having this great subject
now before us we should proceed earnestly,
and with as little delay as may be, to mature
some measure which may meet the demand
of the people. Nearly two years have elapsed
since the close of the war, during the whole
of which time the regions blasted by treason
have been subject to the authority of Congress;
and yet these regions are still unprovided with
any valid civil governments, and no loyal man
within their limits, black or white, is safe in
his person or estate. The civil rights act and
the Ereedmen's Bureau bill are set at open
defiance, while freedom of speech and of the
press are unknown. The loyal people of these
districts, with sorely-tried patience and hopes
long deferred, plead with us for our speedy
interposition in their behalf; and even the
conquered rebels themselves, who are supreme
in this general reign of terror, seem to be
growing weary of their term of lawlessness and
misrule. Sir, let us tolerate no further pro-
crastination; and while we justly hold the
President responsible for the trouble and mal-
administration which now curse the South and
disturb the peace of the country, let us remem-
ber that the national odium already perpetu-
ally linked with the name of Andrew Johnson
will be shared by us, if we fail in the great
duty which is now brought to our doors.

Mr. Speaker, my first objection to the amend-
ment proposed is that it practically confounds
the distinction between treason and loyalty
by allowing the elective franchise to the great

body of the criminals who strove, through four
bloody years, to destroy the nation's life. No
such policy can have my sanction. The sixth
section of the amendment, which seeks to
guard against this by the affidavit which it
requires, would prove a delusion and a snare.
I will read the form of the oath which it pre-
scribes :

I, A. B., do solemnly svvenr, on the Holy Evangel-
ists of Almighty God, that on tho 4th day of March,
18G4, and at all times thereafter, 1 would willinijly
have complied with tho requirements of tho proclama-
tion of the President of the United Statei, issued on the
8th day of December, 18G3, had a safe opportunity of so
doing been allowed me ; th:it on iha saiu 4th of March,
18G4, and at ail times therealter, I was opposed to the
continuance of the rebellion and to the establishment
of the so-called confederate government, and volun-
tarily gave no aid or encouragement thereto, but
earnestly desired the success of the Union, and the
suppression of all armed resistance to the Government
of the United States ; and thst I will henceforth faith-
fully support the Constitution of the United States and
the Union of the States thereunder.

Sir, of what value would be such an oath ?
In exacting it, instead of protecting the rights
of loyal men we should build a safe bridge
over which every rebel in the South could
pass back into power. How could perjury he
assigned upon such an affidavit ? By what
process could the prosecutor prove, on the trial,
the hidden purpose or the secret intention of
the party ? I have little faith in the oaths of
rebels under any circumstances. If our ex-
perience in the late war establishes any
general rule in such cases, it is that the oath
of a traitor proves nothing but the perjury of
the villain who takes it. Most assuredly we
could not rely upon it where the man who
swears runs no risk of being brought to ac-
count; and the exaction of such an oath of
men who have ruthlessly lifted their hands
against their country is scarcely less than a
mockery.

But if it be granted that this oath would be
honestly taken, it does not follow that we
should now restore the franchise on any such
cheap and easy conditions. Are we willing
thus to degrade and belittle this great right,
the highest expression of citizenship, and its
truest safeguard ? Must we make haste to
share the governing power of the country
with the rebel hordes who fought us nearly
three years, because they grew weary of their
enterprise on the 4th day of March, 1864, and
desired then to give it up ? Is treason against
the nation an ofl'ense so slight, an afiair so

6-4

trifling, that no real atonement for it shall be
denaanded? Sir, these are grave questions,
and the state of our country to-day demands
that Congress shall ponder them. The
citizen's duty of allegiance and the nation's
obligation of protection are reciprocal. The
one is the price of the other, and the compact
is alike binding upon both parties. "When
the rebels broke this compact b}' attempting
the crime of national murder their right of
citizenship was forfeited, and the nation has
the undoubted right to declare the conse-
quences of that forfeiture by law. It not
only has the right, but in my judgment is
sacredly bound to exercise it. And why?
Because, in the language of Vattel, " Every
nation is obliged to perform the duty of self-
preservation." The only solid foundation of
national security is the allegiance of the
citizen; and the most solemn duty which is
at this moment devolved upon the Congress
of the United States is the duty of keeping
the Government of the country in the hands
of loyal men. ]S o Government can be secure,
and no Government deserves to live, which
allows its enemies a common and equal voice
Avith its friends in the exercise of its powers.
This nation has hitherto recognized this prin-
ciple. In the very first years of the Eepublic,
Congress sanctioned the perpetual disfran-
chisement of the leader and principal officers
of Shay's rebellion; and the acts of Congress
which warrant the exercise of this power of
disfranchisement stand in full force and un-
challenged on your statute-books. Congress,
during the rebellion, deprived of all rights of
citizenship those who deserted from the mili-
tary or naval service, or who, after being
"duly enrolled," left the United States or
their military districts to avoid a draft.
Certainly these ofienses are no greater than
the crime of treason, persisted in for successive
years. The authority of Congress in all such
cases rests upon the universal law of nations.
It grows out of the contract of allegiance and
the duty of every nation to preserve its own
life ; and therefore no trial and conviction by
any judicial tribunal are necessary as a con-
dition of the declared forfeiture. The forfei-
ture is not declared as a punishment for the
violation of any criminal law, but as a safe-
guard against national danger. It is an ex-
pression of the same policy which excludes
aliens from the rights of citizens. The power
is not unconstitutional, for our fathers, in
framing the Constitution, recognized the law
of nations, as they were compelled to do, in
launching the Eepublic among the independ-
ent Powers of the world. Nor is it at all
affected by the question whether the districts
lately in revolt are States in the Union or
territorial provinces. In both States and
Territories the national authority must be
held paramount as to the rights of citizenship,
which has uniformly been regarded as a na-
tional question. If the second section of the
first article of the Constitution gives to the
States the power to say who shall vote, this
must necessarily be understood to apply onl-^

to those who are citizens of the United States,
since otherwise the national authority might
be overthrown by aliens in our midst in
combination with citizens. The late war for
the Union has been carried on at immense
cost for the purpose of demonstrating to all
the world that we are h iiatioii ; and every
nation, according to the high authority already
quoted, "has a right to every thing that can
ward otf imminent danger, and keep at a dis-
tance whatever is capable of causing its ruin;
and from that very same reason that estab-
lishes its right it has also the right to the
things necessary to its preservation."

Mr. Speaker, with what face can we de-
nounce the President for his wholesale par-
dons, and charge him with making treason
honorable and loyalty odious, if we ourselves
voluntarily clothe with the honor and dignity
of the ballot the men who have forfeited all
their rights by their crimes against their
country ? With what consistency can we
declaim against the monstrous blood-guilti-
ness of treason while we extend to the traitor
the right hand of political fellowship? Sir,
not a single rebel has yet expiated his crime
on the gallows. Not one has even been tried.
Neither confiscation nor exile has been the
portion of the armed assassins and outlaws who
summoned to their untimely graves more than
three hundred thousand heroes of the Re-
public, and made the civilized world stand
aghast at the recital of their crimes. I do not
say we should disfranchise the rebels because
the President has allowed them to go un-
punished, but that loyal men alone can be
trusted to govern the country they have saved ;
and that the false clemency of the Executive
is the exact reverse of a good reason for re-
storing traitors to power. Nor do I argue
that perpetual disfranchisement will certainly
be necessarj', but that the nation, for its own
safetj', should withhold the ballot from its
enemies till they have proved themselves fit
to cast it. No such proof can be adduced.
On the contrary, the spirit of treason is now
quite as reeking and defiant in the revolted
districts as at any time during the war. In
the sunshine of the President it has sprouted
up into new and more vigorous forms of life,
while repentant rebels are unknown, save in
the sense of regretting the failure of their
treason. Sir, I hope the Thirty-Ninth Con-
gress will not sully its good name by con-
founding the friends of the country with its
enemies in the reconstruction and government
of the districts blighted by treason, and thus
trample down the great principle that alle-
giance to the nation is the condition of citi-
zenship and the bulwark of our freedom. To
do this would be to surrender oui strongest
weapons to the President and his rebel allies.
It would be disloyalty to the great cause
which would thus again be imperiled, and
bring dishonor upon the graves of our
martyred legions, who perished in deadly
encounter with the traitors whom we now
propose to restore to their lost rights.

Mr. Speaker, I further object to the measure

65

before us, that it is a mere enabling act, look- 1
ing to the early restoration of the rebellious
districts to their former places in the Union,
instead of a well-considered frame of govern-
ment, contemplating such restoration at some
indeiinite future time, and designed to fit
them to receive it. They are not ready for
reconstruction as independent States on any
terms or conditions which Congress might
impose ; and 1 believe the time has come for
us to say so. "We owe this much to their mis-
guided people, whose false and feverish hopes
have been kept alive by the course of the Ex-
ecutive and the hesitating policy of Congress.
I think I am safe in saying that if these dis-
tricts were to-day admitted as States, with the
precise political and social elements which we
know to exist in them, even with their rebel
population disfranchised and the ballot placed
in the hands of radical Union men onlj^, iri'e-
spective of color, the experiment would be
ruinous to the best interests of their loyal
people and calamitous to the nation. The
withdrawal of Federal intervention and the
unchecked operation of local supremacy
would as fatally hedge up the way of justice
and equality as the rebel ascendency which
now prevails. Why? Simply because no
theory of government, no forms of adminis-
tration, can be trusted, unless adequately
supported by public opinion. The power of
the great landed aristocracy in these regions,
if unrestrained by power from without, would
inevitably assert itself. Its political chemistry,
obeying its own laws, would very soon crystal-
ize itself into the same forms of treason and
lawlessness which to-day hold their undis-
turbed empire over the existing loyal element.
"What these regions need, above all things, is
not an easy and quick return to their forfeited
rights in the Union, but governmejit, the
strong arm of power, outstretched from the
central authority here in Washington, making
it safe for the freedmen of the South, safe for
her loyal white men, safe for emigrants from
the Old World and from the northern States
to go and dwell there; safe for northern
capital and labor, northern energy and enter-
prise, and northern ideas to set up their habi-
tation in peace, and thus found a Christian
civilization and a living democracy amid the
ruins of the past. That, sir, is what the
country demands and the rebel power needs.
To talk about suddenly building up independ-
ent States, where the material for such struc-
tures is fatally wanting, is nonsense. States
\\\nsi grow, and to that end their growth must
be fostered and protected. The political and
social regeneration of the country made deso-
late by treason is the prime necessity of the
hour, and is preliminary to any reconstruction
of States, Years of careful pupilage under
the authority of the nation may be found
necessary, and Congress alone must decide
when and upon what conditions the tie rudely
broken by treason shall be restored. Con-
gress, moreover, is as solemnly bound to deny
to disloyal communities admission into our
great sisterhood of States as it is to deny the

rights of citizenship to those who have for-
feited such rights by treason.

I have thus far, Mr. Speaker, addressed
myself to considerations which appeal to men
of my own political faith. There is a theory
of reconstruction held by gentlemen on the
other side of the House, according to which
the rebels, the moment they laid down their
arms and confessed themselves vanquished,
were entitled to resume all their rights as
citizens, just as if they had had not rebelled,
and to set in motion the machinery of their
State governments, be represented in Con-
gress, and enjoy all and singular the rights
and privileges of other citizens of the United
States. Sir, I shall not consume much time
in noticing this strange theory, which was so
happily disposed of by the gentleman from
Ohio [Mr. Shellabarger] on Friday last. I
must, however, do its friends the honor of
confessing it to be entirely original. I think
no such principle can be found in the law of
nations, I am quite sure there is no histori-
cal precedent for it, and that the precedents
are strongly the other way. One of these, and
a very nottible one, I may refer to, as illustrat-
ing the difference between the congressional
and presidential theories of reconstruction.
I understand that when Satan rebelled
against the Almighty he was accommodated
with quarters somewhat more tropical and
less salubrious than the kingdom he had in-
voluntarily abdicated. To speak plainly, he
was plunged into hell; and he "accepted the
situation." According to one account of the
transaction he said it was —

"Better to reign iu hell than serve in heaven ;"
and he has not been "reconstructed" to this
day. But according to the modern theory to
which I refer, the devil, when he was finally
overpowered and was willing to acknowledge
it, was that moment entitled to be reinstated
in his ancient rights in Paradise, exactly as if
he had not sinned. That I understand to be
the Democratic theory of reconstruction. But
Satan, devil as he was, never had the infernal
audacity to insinuate so monstrous a preten-
sion ; and it was reserved for the followers of
Andrew Johnson, nearlj'- six thousand years
later, to startle the civilized world by its
avowal. Mr. Speaker, let me not be mis-
understood here. I do not desire to see the
rebels follow in the footsteps of their illus-
trious predecessor. There may have been
times when it seemed to me they deserved a
similar treatment. It may even have oc-
curred to me, in some of my profimer mo-
ments, that if there is not a pretty respectable
orthodox hell on the other side of the grave
for the special discipline of the rebel leaders,
it would seem to be the grandest oversight
that divine Providence could possibly have
committed. But in confronting the dangers
which now beset our country, I put aside
these theological fancies ; and what I demand^
and all I ask, is that Congress shall organize
a well-appointed political purgatory, located
in the rebellious districts, and keep the rebels

66

in it until by their penitence and a change of
their lives they shall satisfy us that they can
again be trusted with power. Let us put
them on probation; and should it require ten
years,_or twenty years, to qualify them for re-
storation, or secure an outside element strong
enougli to rule the rebel faction, let the time
be extended. The grand interests involved
plead with us to " make haste slowly," while
voices from the graves of our slaughtered
countrymen beseech us to " keep none but
loyal men on guard." When the rebels, con-
scious of the ruin they have wrought, shall
wash away their guilt m their tears of genu-
ine contrition, then, and not till then, let us
restore them to our embrace.

And now, Mr. Speaker, if any gentleman
asks me what plan of govocnmcnt 1 would
institute for the probation and pupilage of
these districts I am ready to answer "him.
But before I do that I desire to say what
forms of reconstruction I do not favor. In
the first place. I oppose any cunninglv devised
scheme like that reported by the gentleman
from Ohio [Mr. Ashley] from the Committee
on Territories, with its popular conventions.
Its committees of safety, its provisional gov-
ernors, and other machinery designed to meet
the ugly fact that wo have a bad man in the
presidential chair, whose usurpations it is
pretended we must checkmate by these extra-
ordinary measures. If the President has
been guilty of high crimes and misdemean-
ors, let him be impeached and hurled from
power. I believe he is thus guilty, and there-
fore I believe our first duty is to' call him to
account. Instead of gradual approaches and
flank movements we should confront him at
once with our accusations and demand his
trial. Instead of lopping off the branches we
should strike at the root of our troubles, and
no significance or insignificance of the execu-
tive oflice as now filled should stand in the
way of our constitutional duty. If the Presi-
dent is not guilty of high crimes and misde-
meanors, in the sense in which those terms
were understood by our forefathers; and ac-
cording to the precedents they had before
them, then the right of impeachment is not
even a "scarecrow," as Mr. Jefferson styled
it. But if I am mistaken, and the country is
doomed yet longer to endure his maladminis-
tration, then let us adopt precisely such meas-
ures of government for the rebellious districts
as would be necessary and proper if we had an
honest man in the place of Andrew Johnson,
thus affording him the opportunity, should he
seek it, to provoke new conflicts with the
people by opposing our measures. Should
his madness fail to supply us, abundantly,
with the grounds for a successful impeach-
ment, the sands of his official life will soon
run out at the worst, while the management
of the rebel territory demands a policy which
may last for indefinite years. As the' friends
of the Constitution and the champions of law,
we can best perform our duty by adhering to
the well-settled forms and usages of our re-
publican institutions.

I oppose, in the second place, any plan of
reconstruction which attempts to reconcile
opposite and utterly irreconcilable theories.
If the rebellious districts are States, known
to the Constitution as such, they have the
right to be represented on this floor and in
the other end of the Capital. They have all
the rights of the other independent States of
the Union, and the work of reconstruction is
done already. The logic of this theory, if
accepted, not only vindicates the policy of
the President, but brands the legislation of
Congress for nearly six years past as a deli-
berate usurpation. This is the rebel theory,
and those who have accepted it, with all its
consequences, are consistent and brave men,
who are entitled to the thanks of all the
enemies of their country. But if you reject
this theory, then you are driven squarely
over to the policy of unqualified radicalism,
for there is no middle ground on which to
stand. If these districts are not States known
to the Constitution it must follow inevitably
that the Constitution knows them only as
Territories, for which Congress is bound by
the express words of the Constitution to
" make all needful rules and regulations."
Sir, I am opposed to any scheme of compro-
mise between these theories, and to any plan
of reconstruction which embodies in it any
elements of the rebel theory. The policy of
Congress and the President in reorganizing
those districts as States, while exercising over
them powers utterly inconsistent with the
rights of States, has brought upon us our
worst troubles, and the sooner we abandon
it the better it will be for the country. The
nation needs a manly and straightforward
policy, and not the weakness and vacillation
which spring from crooked and ambidextrous
measures -vchich lend strength to the enemies
of the Kepublic.

Mr. Speaker, the theory which deals with
the rebellious districts as under the exclusive
jurisdiction of Congress rests upon grounds
which are logically impregnable. In the first
place, their old constitutional governments
were overthrown and destroyed by the rebel-
lion. This will not be disputed. Second,
their rebel governments, which followed,
were destroyed by our arms. This is equally
certain. Third, their present governments,
extemporized by the President, are military
and provisional only, having no validity
whatever save that which they borrow from
the continued acquiescence of Congress. The
President himself can be quoted in support of
this proposition. And fourth, the rebels
themselves, having forfeited all their rights
by their treason, as I have already shown,
have no authority to institute any sort of
government within their respective districts,
until they are expressly empowered so to do
by Congress. If 1 am right in these positions,
these districts are so many geographical divi-
sions of the Kepublic whose people are wholly
without any valid civil government, and with-
out any constitutional power to frame such
government; and being solely under the juris-

67

diction of Congress, and having none of the
powers and attributes of States, they are neces-
sarily Territories of the United States. As
such they need government till they are pre-
pared for readinission, and the machinery of
territorial governments, older than the Consti-
tution itseff, is as familiar to the American
people as that of the State governments. Let
each of these Territories then have a governor,
A chief justice, a marshal, and an attorney.
Let each of them have a Delegate in Congress,
fitly denied the right to vote, while permitted
to speak. Let each have a legislature for the
enactment of local laws, subject to the super-
vision of Congress. Let Congress declare who
shall be qualified to vote in these Territories,
adopting the same rule already established in
the other Territories of the United States and
in the District of Columbia. And when local
supremacy shall defy the national authority
in any of these Territories, let it be effectually
curbed by the military power of the United
States. Under this educational process, I
would have these rebellious districts trained
up in the way they should go, whether the
time required for such training shall prove
long or short ; while in the mean time every
inch of their soil will be subject to the national
authority, and freely open to the energy and
enterprise of the world. This policy, by
aationalizing the South, would render life
and property as secure in Louisiana as in
Maine. It would tend powerfully to make
■our whole country homogeneous. It would
encourage in these wasted regions "small
farms," thrifty tillage, free schools, closely-
associated communities, social independence,
respect for honest labor, and equality of
political rights." All these blessings must
follow, if only the nation, having vanquished
its enemies, will now resolutely assert its
pow:er in the interest of loyal men, over
Tegions in which nothing but power is re-
spected.

To all this, Mr. Speaker, it will be objected
•that it contravenes the policy of the constitu-
tional amendment proposed by Congress at
our last session, and therefore can not in good
faith be urged while that amendment is
pending. Several replies to this objection
are at hand. First, it must be remembered
that this amendment was submitted to the
several States. Congress had no right to
propose it to unorganized districts which had
no constitutional governments of any sort,
and therefore no power to pass upon the
question. Could we, for example, submit
this amendment to Colorado or Nebraska,
before they have been lawfully declared-
States ! Congress at the last session, might
have waived all formalities and recognized
the rebellious districts as States by receiving
their re}:h'esentatives, as was done in the case
of Tennessee; but we refused to do this. Con-
gress even declined to pass the bill reported
from the Eeconstruction Committee provid-
ing that these so-called States should be re-
ceived on their acceptance of the amendment.
It is perfectly certain, therefore that Congress

reserved for its future judgment the very
question which is assumed to have been deci-,
ded by the objection under notice ; or, that if
Congress did decide it the decision was the oth-
er way. The very utmost that can be claimed
by the champions of the constitutional amend-
ment is that the question is an open one ; and,
being an open question. Congress may decide
it to-day by putting territorial governments
over these regions, leaving the amendment to
the disposition of the loyal States, whose rep-
resentatives m Congress for nearly six years
past have ignored the existence of disloyal
States in dealing with the mighty concerns of
■war and peace and the amendment of the Con-
stitution itself. I believe the pending amend-
ment will be ratified ; but in voting to sub-
mit it I do not think Congress is at all em-
barrassed in its present action. I can say for
myself at least, that I am perfectly untram-
meled, either by my votes in this House, or by
pledges or committals anywhere ; while I
believe the general understanding at the last
session was that the amendment embodied
provisions which were demanded as national
safeguards, without pretending to supply any
final solution of the problem of reconstruc-
tion.

But I reply, in the next place, that even \(
Congress at the last session bound itself by
an implied agreement to admit these districts
as States on their ratification of the amend-
ment, we are now released from that obliga-
tion. With singular unanimity and empha-
sis they have rejected our proposal,and thereby
left us free. Sir, are we bound to wait here
five years or ten years, for them to ponder
the question and reverse their decision, after
they have already defiantly spurned our offer,
allowing the rebel power in the meanwhile to
have free course ? I do not so understand the
bargain, if any bargain has been made. "We
have the right to plead our release, and the
state of the country demands that we shall
exercise it. Since our session of last summer
great changes have been wrought in the gen-
eral feeling of the people. We see daily the
truth of the old adage that " circumstances
alter cases." Public opinion has forced Con-
gress to establish manhood suffrage in the
District of Columbia, and thereby to say that
that principle should prevail in all the States
of the Union. Congress has extended it ovor
all the Territories of the United States, con-
stituting an empire large enough to support a
population of two hundred millions of people.
Congress has voted for the admission of Colo-
rado and Nebraska on the fundamental con-
dition of their acceptance of the same princi-
ple, and thus advertised all v.'hom it may
concern that other States yet to be born must
comply with the same condition. Most cer-
tainly the like requirement will be made of
the districts lately in arms against us, what-
ever may betide the constitutional amend-
ment. God forbid that we should impose
conditions upon the virgin States of the
Northwest, which have never rebelled, and
whose people to-day are loyal, which we will

G8

not exact of the rebels -whp have drenched
their country in Llood ! Sir, we cannot trifle
■with a principle so vital, or expose it to any
sort of hazard. I voted last year against
restoring Tennessee to her place in the Union,
hecause I feared she could not he trusted
■without a mortgage from her securing the
hallot to her colored loyalists. I hope jny
fears will prove groundless,, but I shall never
regret my vote. The loyal people of Mary-
land to day, black and white, would be safer
under Federal bayonets than under their local
governments ; and Congress, where it has the
power, must exert it against the enemies of
the country and their s^^mpathizers. I shall
never vote to restore one of these rebel dis-
tricts to power as a State, except upon the
condition that impartial suffrage without re-
spect to race, color, or former condition of
slavery, shall be the supreme law within her
borders. Sir, we can no longer evade the
solemn duty which the logic of events has at
last made plain to the lovers of justice; and
the man who now thrusts constitutional
amendments in our way might as well quote
the Crittenden resolutions, adopted by this
House the day following the first Battle of
Bull Eun, as the governing principle of the
Thirty-Ninth Congress.

I add, finally, and as a conclusion from
what I have said already, that the second sec-
tion of the proposed amendment ought never
to be made a part of the Constitution of the
United States. It would not now be propos-
ed, if the question were pending as a new one,
as our action at this session has plainly indi-
cated. I voted for it, along with the other
sections of the amendment, simply as a pro-
posal to reduce the political power of the reb-
els to a common level with that of loyal men ;
but instead of cutting down representation in
these districts to the basis of actual suffrage,
I think we are now ready so to extend the
franchise as to make it commensurate with
actual representation. An amendment of the
Constitution securing this result should have
been proposed at the last session. When, in
our extremity, we called on the black loyal-
ists of the South to help us through the red
sea of war into which our wickedness had
plunged us, and they responded to our call
by sending two hiindred thousand soldiers to
our rescue, it thence-forward became the na-
tion's duty, from which no escape was mor-

ally possible, to secure the rights of citizen-
ship, both civil and political, to the wronged
and outraged millions of the African race in
our midst. It thence-forward ought to have
been counted a shameful proposition, a fla-
grat affront to common justice and gratitude,,
for Congress to propose to the rebels, as a
constitutional amendment, that if they would
agree to the exclusion of these loyal colored
men from the basis of representation, we
would agree to surrender them to the tender
mercies of rebel State governments, which
might vvholly deprive them of the sacred right
of representation. Sir, I hope no such prin-
ciple will ever defile the Constitution of our
fathers. Aside from its cold-blooded ingrat-
itude to our black allies, it is radically vi-
cious. It impliedly concedes to the States of
the Union the right to disfranchise male citi-
izens of the United States over twenty-one
years old who are innocent of crime, and thus
strikes at the root of all democracy. If " tax-
ation without representation is tyranny," and
Governments derive " their just powers from
the consent of the governed," the citizen's
right of representation is as natural and inher-
ent as the breath of his nostrils. To deprive-
him of it, unless he himself forfeits it by his
offences against society, is a crime against his
manhood, which is the common foundation of
the rights of all men. It is an offense against
all free government, for the right of one cit-
izen to a voice in its public administration is
precisely the same as the right of every other
citizen; and no fraction of citizens, however-
large, can deprive the remainder of their
common and equal right. To deny this is to
mock the Declaration of Independence and
insult the memory of our fathers ; and to in-
corporate the denial into the Constitution of
the United States, in words which express or
imply it, would strengthen the hands of every
rebel in the South, and comfort the enemies-
of American democracy throughout the
world. It would pollute the very foun-
tains of our national life by the unnatural
marriage of the Constitution to the foul her-
esy of State rights, which so recently wrapped
the Eepublic in the flames of war; while it
would stand in open conflict with that grand
central principle of our great Charter which-
declares that "the United States shall guaran-
tee to every State in this Union a republican,
form of government."

LRBFe'iS